Detail specific information and provide direct follow up. If you wish to engage with the panel directly, you can always reach out and, uh, uh, we will follow up. You know, there, you can reach out through our website and other various methods, uh, of reaching out. I certainly found that out this week when I received tons of emails on one of the topics on the agenda this evening. So, uh, but we wanna encourage you to do that and reach out to us and communicate with the panel directly. Um, our, our nurse sort of business is, I'll ask our secretary, secretary, Nathan, if you please call the roll.
Uh, yes. When I call your name, um, please that, you know, indicate that you're present. Um, Marielle Ali. Present Adriana Ali. Say Present. Bebe, Sade Arnold. Shirley bin Present. Aaron Boad is absent. Camille Pereti Present. Marjorie Deseg. Amy Fair. Um, Anita Garcia, absent, uh, Anthony Giardano, vice chair. Angela Green, present. Navid Hasan. Present.
Alice Ho. Present. Rema iso. Uh, darling Meme Here. Sharon. Edwin, present. Alan Ong. Present. Maisha Sap Maisha. SAP Thomas Shepherd. Present. Venus Sen. Uh, Manny Ez. Present and chair Gregory Faulkner. Present and student members. Isaiah Haitian Present. And Dalia Diaz Chan.
Present And for controller. Brad Lander. Lala here. Thank you. So we have 16 voting members present. We have a quorum so we can proceed. Great. That's great. Thank you everyone, and thank everyone for, uh, for your, uh, involvement and for being here this evening. Um, and our first order of business is gonna be to hear from our student panelists, which is always a highlight of our meeting. So I will first introduce our student panelists, Isaiah Tenin, uh, for your remarks. Good evening panelists, students, parents, and educators.
My name is Isaiah Jun, and I'm excited to engage in tonight's discussion as a student representative. I look forward to continuing connecting the voices of our city students to the decisions which directly impact their education. I would like to make remarks on the ongoing uncertainty regarding the Federal Department of Education. I recognize that this is not on the agenda for tonight, however, this may be pressing students for ma pressing issue for many students. I recognize that many families and staff are in a shared state of confusion and ambiguity. And to highlight that transparent communication, it's fundamental to prepare for any impending changes
that these coming weeks. It's also important to note that the uncertainty with the US DOE disproportionately affects students and families of marginalized communities, families who rely on the school, stability for education, meals, and support. As a student, I value the environment schools provide and the communities they build, equipping us with evaluable skills needed to find our true success and to pursue our unbounded potential. Consistency builds momentum and momentum, dismantles barriers. And now it's important to assert our voices in the decisions which matter, most voices, which will not only be heard,
but respected and valued. We must fight for consistency to ensure that our students' path to suce to success is not compromised by federal actions and undermine the value of stability in our schools. Schools should not be places, schools should be places of learning, not signs of uncertainty. Thank you very much, panel member. Appreciate it. Yes, you can applaud. Thank you. And our next student panel member is Dalia Diaz. Penn. Thank you. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge a job well done on the District nine merger. And this school merge takes steps that from a student perspective, seems to be very conducive to a positive outcome.
By bringing the student populations of both schools together prior to the merge, in an environment that promotes peer bonding, it can very well reduce the conflict and tension that different schools may have with each other. In the instance of a merge, different schools that are within proximity of one another may have underlying competitive spirits towards each other, which may be a significant component of why Interschool fights can occur within student populations of co-located or merged schools. By bringing the entire student bodies of each school together, even if just for a singular event, district leadership highlighted the commonalities each
student had with each other and help them find how they were compatible, creating friendships within school populations in advance to the merge. When students are solely represented by smaller groups of individual leadership, like for example, just SLTs, there is sometimes a component of a school's identity being weakens or lost by associating with a different school. And we fail to see the new beginnings that may emerge from a partnership such as this one. The steps that Ms 3, 2, 8, and 5 9 4 and district leadership took were ingenious in creating a smooth merge. Thankfully, no conflicts occurred in this situation, but I'm hopeful that this is an approach may be repurposed
with co-located campuses and future mergers to mitigate potential inner student conflicts that may arise out of these circumstances. I'm impressed with the strategy as a way that any community experiencing ongoing or expected interbuilding conflicts could build relationships. And I advise we use these practices that MS 3, 2 8 and 5 9 4 merge showed us as the blueprint. Additionally, I want to take a longer peak at the five, five-year capital plan due to a small wondering I have if the school construction authority and DOE could be more transparent about what criteria we have for the allocation
of the second budget school health plan. Because these are very desired services such as gardens, libraries, and cafeteria upgrades. I think it's important to ensure that these services are going to be, the places are going to the places that need it the most. And I just want to say transparency is key, especially if schools in New York City that need it more don't have those resources. Thank you. Thank I want to thank you both. Um, I have to say that our students, if these are examples of our students and, and the student quality of leadership that our schools are producing, I think we're really in great hands.
And, you know, they, they were meeting earlier in the cafeteria. They wouldn't let me sit in, but, uh, they were, they were sort of discussing their strategy and I'm, you know, really happy to have you both on the panel and have your advice and counsel and, uh, keep, keep being activists, keep doing this. This is really important. Uh, we're now gonna move into the, uh, public comment portion and we actually begin with student public comments. So what I'd like to do now is just read the rules of, uh, procedure, uh, for receiving public comment, uh, to the panel panel during the public comment periods. Everyone who has signed up to speak on a specific agenda
item will be allotted two and one half minutes. I'll ask our secretary, secretary Nathan to call forward speakers from the signup sheets and keep an eye on the clock to ensure that speakers finish their comments within the allotted time. Additional time will be provided as necessary to help facilitate comments that may require translation. We will call speakers up in groups of five. The clock will indicate the amount of time remaining for each speaker. And a light will flash when there is one minute remaining, so that that speaker will know that their time is about to expire. At the conclusion of each speaker's time,
we will move on to the next speaker. If a speaker is not here when their name is called, we will move on to the next speaker. Once we've done so, you will not be able to redeem your place in the queue. The this portion of public comment is only for agenda items that are currently under consideration, which means, um, if you signed up mistakenly and you wanna speak about something that's not currently under discussion or under consideration for a vote, we'll, um, hope gladly move you to the appropriate section in the agenda. Um, uh, again, comments during these sections
as we're gonna have several, um, areas where we'll be considering resolutions and, and votes. Public comment must be related to those specific items. Um, if you wanted to speak about something generally there will be a general comment section towards the end of the meeting. Um, our first order of business will be to hear from our students. Um, secretary Nathan, are there any students who've signed up to speak? Yes. Um, there are Three. Is it on? Yeah, there are three students who have signed up to speak. Um, so you can make your way down to the microphone when I call. Your names Rachel Wang, destiny Ali, Roman,
and Evelyn bho. You can begin. Um, good evening everyone, and thank you panel members for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Rachel Wang and I'm a junior at Queens High School for the sciences at York College. And I'm here today to advocate for a new building for my school. Our school is currently using a York College building and we only have one floor. Our building is lacking many of the basic amenities, which includes a kitchen, a gym, and an appropriately sized cafeteria. We have to use the college gym, which is a seven minute walk from our main academic building and requires crossing two major roads.
And our cafeteria can only fit around 120 people per period, which means we have five lunch periods a day with lunch starting as early as 10 30 in the morning and ending as late as 2 45 without a real kitchen. The food served is extremely limited. The lack of space has an even larger impact on our academics during finals week. For example, in order to continue with regular scheduling and accommodate testing, we have to pay $10,000 to borrow additional space from your college. Not only did we have to adjust our budget plan, but to provided space is less than ideal for testing.
QHSS students had to sit in a crowded lecture hall with desks that can barely fit a piece of paper. In addition, because the school is trying to reduce class size, one of the potential plans is to have seniors take virtual classes. As a rising senior, I would love to spend more time with my peers and teachers in my last year of high school. We are already an extremely small school and it's hard enough to get students to participate in activities as is. Having a hybrid schedule is only gonna make this harder. Our school has no choice but to seek unconventional solutions due to the lack of space that could be detrimental
to both our academic performances and our student spirit. Thank you again. Thank you very much. And by the way, Eileen do, because we have our, um, school utilization committee, and uh, I want to connect you two, um, to that. So, um, and I know she's taking notes. Did you wanna add something? Panel member Adriana was trying to say that we are aware and we are already working on it. Okay. Um, um, so see how fast you got action by, by coming here and Yeah. That, that's good. That's, uh, very effective. Yeah. We're Already working on it. And I have been working with the school and the principal Okay. And the borough president on, uh,
and elected officials on this Matter. Okay. Let's keep the students in the loop along with our student panel members that can make sure that we're being accountable to the students. Right. Good. Got it. Thank you. Okay, great. Thank you for coming. Um, destiny would like to speak after the next student because she's still a little nervous, if that's okay. That's fine. That that's fine. Thank you. Uh, hi. My name is Evelyn. I'm from New Pathways, well, 5 94 and we're middle school. Uh, I'm here to talk about our merging with the MS 3 28, which I think is a good idea.
'cause one, the, we have two different programs in each school, and combining both of them is very beneficial for upcoming new students and the students that are literally there right now. And I feel like two schools, both schools being there, will be really good for the community and the people in there, and the students and the staff in there. 'cause we get the opportunity to communicate with people that are not, with not being used to, and be used to programs that we have never been really used to that much.
And I think doing that will be really good and beneficial for both schools. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Appreciate it. Good evening. My name is Destiny Ali Roman. I'm 16 years old and I'm currently in the 11th grade at Dr. Tido High School Charter School. I'm an IEP student. I am here today to share my experience of being bullied, retaliated against, intimidated and harassed by members in this school administration. The individuals involved are these harmful behaviors include Professor Smilow, principal Smilow, Mr. Armstrong, director
of counseling, exclusive director Lindsay Langa, exec executive director Lindsay Langa, Dean Bow, and several SSA officers, office Officers. Take your time. Throughout my time at the school, I have faced ongoing mistreatment that has been severely impacted my emotional wellbeing and my educational experience. The administration repeatedly my targeted me with unfair this disciplinary
actions and ex exclusionary practice patients practices, creating a hostile environment that made it impossible for me to be as safe at school. There are constant and intimidations eventually causing me to go into crisis, forcing me to stop attending school altogether. What makes this situation even more distressing is that the administrations deliberate efforts to limit my access to education, support, and advocacy as a form of regulation.
They restricted my mother and legal guardians from my entering the school. Building under bias and informing is preventing them from being actively involved in my education. They exclusion has not only, only isolated me, but also denied me to a vital, vital support and the success I needed to make matters worse. The school administration has unjustly denied me the credits. I rightfully earned further,
further obstructing my academic process. This appears to be in a direct form of regulation against my brother, both my mother and me for consistency, advocating for my educational needs. Their there, their refer refusal to release my earned credits has created a barrier preventing me from transferring to another school and moving forward with my education, the CSE two and CEQA that are aware
of all situations occurring and have also tried to advocate on my behalf and no religion has occurred. Okay. Okay. That's it. What I'd like to do, if it, if it would work, is I'd like to have somebody come and speak to you. Um, because I think, first of all, I, I appreciate your coming and the courage that you have to come and present to us. It takes a lot of courage, but I'm, I'm hearing things that I just feel I would feel more comfortable if we had staff take you and, and I see they're there, they're all rushing to, to, to meet with you and to try to resolve some of those issues.
And, um, and she finish her last Statement. Yeah. To close. I can't hear you. I'm sorry. Can she just Finish her last statement To close? Absolutely. But I, I'm just concerned with what I'm hearing and I wanna make sure that there are no problem. People follow up. Yes. I'm simply asking for fairness and justice. Every student deserves a safe, supportive, and equitable learning environment. Something I have been denied, I have urged the p the Pap rat panel members and chancellor Miss Al Avi Ramos thoroughly investigate Dr. Richard Scale high school. The administration's outgoing misconduct bias
by falsifying, falsifying schools records and lack and lack of accountability have caused inappropriate harm to students in the short, the school community. Yes. And intimidate actions if necessary to prevent further injustice. Thank you for your time and that attention. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. And I, and your timing is good. I believe the chancellor would also like welcome chancellor, and I believe the chancellor would also like to make a comment. Thank You. Bye. Thank you for being so brave and for coming up here and telling us that we need to, we need to definitely make sure that we're paying
attention to this situation. So we have a couple of people who are gonna work with you and your mom, and then they're gonna make sure that I myself am connected to this. And I'm gonna visit you with your school. Okay, great. I see you at your school soon. Thank, thank you for your, uh, for being here. We have one more student speaker also. Sure. Uh, Lila ez. Are they here? They may not be here. Is she here? Is she here? There she is. Good afternoon. Hope you all are having a great day so far. I'm here to say something about school lunch and busing. Um, if you guys are getting tired
of this problem, it would be great. Like when it gets fixed, I don't have to say anything about it anymore, but, yeah. Um, So first my brother did get a bus, which is amazing, but he gets picked up at seven 30 in the morning for his school. It starts a little bit later than eight o'clock, so he's not getting to school late. But I am, so my parents can't really take me out from like the bus and train to get to school on time. So they have to either pay for a cab or I get to school late. Very in inconvenient for me. Um, but I'm very glad that he did get a bus.
But as if, for me, I'm in fifth grade, still don't have a bus. My brother left a school when I was in fourth grade because he graduated. Now I don't have a bus and I have about four months left of school. And I'm not expecting to get a bus after that. I just think it's unfair that I haven't gotten a school bus yet, even though I'm maybe 2.5 miles out of the district and it's maybe a 15 minute drive, but it costs a lot of money. And I'm probably gonna say this like a billion times, but it would be amazing if I could get a school bus this year.
It might not be for that long, but it's gonna save my parents a lot of money. And that would just be amazing. And for school lunch, lunch is absolutely trash. Disgusting, horrible. It's like they pulled food outta the garbage, which is not an exaggeration. The other day I bit into an apple maybe last Monday, and I spit it out instantly from the horrendous taste of it. It was like green and brown and disgusting. And today, I sadly was drinking the chocolate milk, spit it out on the floor. There was a chunk of something brown in it, and it was absolutely disgusting.
I could be sick from that. And I don't know who's applying the schools with this food, but that's honestly just disgusting that kids are being fed this give in this kind of food. And I've said this many times, maybe a year or two now, and there's still not a change in this problem. If anything, the food's getting worse. Some food's good, some food's bad, um, which the parents tax dollars pay for. And it would be good if the food was checked before it's served to children. It, it, it would be amazing if the food was checked before it was gave to children. And it's just sad that kids are getting fed
or any of that kind of stuff. Thank you all for your time. Have a great day. Thank You. And I see panel member Shepherd. Did you want to comment? Thank you. Chair Faulkner. Um, Ms. Torres, I wanna say thank you. Um, I've been in this space for a while now and I I appreciate the fact that no matter where we are, you show up month after month as a student and tell us what your experience is like and like ways that we get. And, um, I'm just going to say thank you for your advocacy.
It is hardcore. You bring it every month. And as a system, we need to do a better job of listening to you and your classmates to make sure that, um, you have a bus and that the food is good and that you don't have to have those types of experiences. But I just wanna say, I have seen your progress over time, like used to come up and used to be like really nervous and could barely speak. And now you bring it every single moment. She rivals you, Tom. Yeah, but I just, no, but I just wanna say like, like I am as a parent,
so proud of what you do and how you do it. I mean, chancellor would like to comment also. Ms. Torres, I hope you don't mind, but you've won a lunch date with me. I'm just, your stories are so compelling, um, your dedication to this cause continues. And so I would like to meet you at your school and join you on your lunch period. I'm gonna see if Mr. Ko can also join me. So we'll have lunch with you and we're gonna get to the bottom of this, Get a great, good, good stuff. Uh, is that exhausted the, uh, student, uh, list?
That is the end of the student list. But I do wanna note we are joined by a member of Phoebe Shaday Arnold and also Rema Esto. Great welcome. Uh, we'll now move into the business portion of the meeting and I'll remind everyone that, um, when we open this floor for public comment during this portion of the meeting, it will only be related. Comments should be focused on the item that is being discussed. Our first item on the agenda is the consideration of contracts. And I would ask Secretary Nathan, if you please present the, uh, uh, resolution. Um, uh,
the resolution up for approval is entitled Resolution to Enter into Contracts. Okay, is there a second? Um, excuse me, is there a motion? So moved. So moved. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Uh, the floor will open first for, uh, public comment on the resolution. Uh, I will call the speakers. Um, I'll call the first five speakers. Ronald Gill, Stephanie Bonia, Sean Blake, Aldina Martinez, and Sarah Patto. You can make your way down to the microphone and you can start speaking.
Just introduce yourself. You don't have to go in the exact order. I can start now. Yes, yes please. Thank you. Uh, first and foremost, I wanna thank you for the time to address, uh, the group of attendees. My name is Ron Gill. I'm a Vice President of Public Sector with Converge One. Uh, prior to my career, prior to this career, I was a school teacher and have served on many school boards. Um, I understand the types of information I get asked in these meetings. I'll try to be as quick as possible. I'm gonna ask for something that I think is fairly simple. I would like you to delay the vote on item number seven until the next board meeting. And I think after I finish, you'll understand why that's the right thing to do. C one sent in a bid, uh, for it hardware. And where announced is the lowest bidder saving the city
roughly $120 million over the five year period of that contract that roughly pays for every item on this list. Uh, the savings is substantial, as you know, but also we were excited about the opportunity to work with you. We work with several large school districts across the country. Um, however, after weeks, almost nearly two months of no follow-up or communication after the announcement, we were considered not qualified without any clear reason for the response. We asked for clarification, and we were provided a list of items that they deemed us for not being qualified for. We found many factual and easily identifiable mistakes
and the reasons that were given. So we provided a response back asking them to look at these mistakes. We were told, told simply the decision was final and none of those corrections or items were addressed. Some of those mistakes still are present in the agenda item tonight that you see today. For example, it says that we bid Cisco, we did not. We bid Juniper. That's not reflected in your agenda tonight. We've been asking for a meeting to discuss these issues. Respectfully. I did not want to be here this evening. I was hoping to have this resolved behind the scenes. I didn't wanna make a big issue of it. And we've been denied meeting after meeting after time, after time until finally this week,
we were announced that we would have a meeting. Unfortunately, that meeting is next Tuesday. Well after your evening is decision is made tonight. So again, I'm asking you simply to do one thing. Don't make a decision tonight. Let us have our hearing, let us meet and review these inaccuracies so we have time to respond. Um, and lastly, as a former school teacher and married to, married to one who's a teacher today, if I gave out a test and 60% of the kids failed, I would think there was something wrong with the test. Three of the five folks that are on the agenda item for number seven were disqualified. It wasn't just us, it was three of the five.
These are companies that do hundreds of billions of dollars a year. We do hundreds and thousands of these responses a year. We have expertise speakers. Time has expired. Thank you. Um, Milagros al, um, Carlene Richards and ZS. Good evening. My name is Ro. Can I speak Spanish? Like They're working on translations. Now. New York City public schools could lose up to 400 nurses as they, uh, lose progressively, uh,
funds from, uh, federal sources. These contracts are a temporary solution, uh, but the duty of this panel is to search permanent solutions to the shortage, and those students who are involved in special education bus services will be affected. End of comment. Thank you. Okay, great. Thank you very much. Thanks for your assistance. Um, I was called earlier, Sarah Lindo. Can I go? Okay. Um, like Milagro says, support 17, the nurse contract extension, because IEP health services are something that disabled people fought for
before our children were even born. Um, can we know how much of the contract actually goes to nurses rather than the agency? And do they have their own health benefits included in this per day contract? And does any of this cover bus nurses to ride with students to and from school who need that? And how does the cost compare with what permanent DOE nurses are paid? Because for example, a school bus para from an agency is paid for a full day, but the ones who work for schools only get paid
for the duration of the route, not even a flat rate of two hours, which is the maximum that OPT, uh, plans the route. And a child I know who lives 15 minutes from his school, nobody wants that job. He has not had a bus pass since it got put on his IEP. Um, we have to in general, attract people to work with our students with disabilities. And I hope that you discuss the expiring school bus contracts soon because that is a life and death, uh, matter for us,
for our population and for all of the students who need to get where they need to go, whether it's for a trip or what. Okay. Thank you. Goodnight. Thank you. Um, I've called all the names of people who have signed up. I don't know of any of the people, anybody else is here. So we've, uh, there are no other public speakers on this, uh, topic. No. No. Okay. Okay. Yes. Request Postpone items number seven and based on Potential policy violations that were recorded. Well, how do you wanna do that? Uh, I'd like to make a motion to postpone item number seven and eight.
Are you mo are you motioning to table? Um, I am motioning to to table. Okay. Okay. The motion table is not debatable. We'll proceed to a vote on the motion to table. I will call the role a, I guess a yes vote would be to table, but you can also one to table one and not the other. Or vote no. Um, member Ali. Yes. So tabling both. Um, member Ali? Yes. To tabling board member Arnold? No. Member bin? Yes. To all.
Um, member Retti? Yes. To table member Dean Stag. A member fair? Um, no. To seven. And yes. Wait, wait yes to pause or table seven and yes. To all the rest? No, we're not voting on the No, you're, yes. Sorry guys. I'm on my meds, y'all my allergies. Apologies. Sorry. Okay. Yes. So number seven, table. Table. Mm-hmm. And move forward with the other.
So no tabling on eight? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Um, is Tony here yet? Not here yet. Okay. Um, vice Chair Green? No. Um, member Hassam? Yes. To both. Uh, member Ho? No. To tabling. Uh, member ISO? Yes. To table both. Uh, member MI May uh, yes. The table member Owin? No. Member Ong. Uh, member SAP Member Shepherd?
Yes. Um, member Tre? No. And Sheriff Faulkner? No. I have to count. Six seven. Uh, the motion fails. Um, there were five Yes. Votes on number seven. I'm sorry. Nine. Yes. Votes on number seven and eight. Yes. Votes on number eight. Okay. And the rest one. So we'll now, we'll now open to pub, uh, panel member comments chair on the resolution. I was actually gonna recognize you because you, did you make the motion? No, I did not make the motion. That second. Okay.
Well, no, not the motion table. That motion failed the motion to consider the original item, the motion to consider the contact. Yeah. Okay. I thought you did. Okay. Did. But I'll recognize you anyway. Thank you. Chair Ner. Um, So I actually want to speak to, um, item number seven. Um, you know, I just think as a, uh, as a procedural matter, right? Um, you know, I understand folks voted the way that they voted. Um, but I would, I would say that, um, if
we set up a follow up with a company to discuss a contract and what their, uh, you know, what their, uh, uh, their bid looks like, right? Or their, their competitive seal bid looks like, um, and then we vote on it before we resolve that. Um, I just think that's a, it's kind of a bit unfair, right? Like, I think if any of us, uh, you know, submitted a contract, like if we were in business and we submitted a contract to someone and, um, we're negotiating
or ironing out details in that contract, and then we just vote on it without resolving that, um, I just feel like, like I just feels a little bit messed up. Right? Um, so there's that one. Um, there is, um, item number 19, and I've been saying this for, um, a very long time. Uh, we have yet another contract for a, like, software developer or someone that works in DIT.
And I think that, um, we should be building capacity within DIT so that we don't have to continue to contract out, um, uh, you know, individual tasks. And, um, the, let's see, I think the last one was, uh, a contract for, um, oh, there it is. Uh, you know what? Nevermind. I'll, I'll let that one go. Um, thank you Chair Hark. Now you'll back. Okay. Appreciate it. And just remind panel members that,
um, we are timed here. It's two two and it's per, uh, panel, uh, panel member. Um, is there anyone else who wishes to comment on contracts? Yes. Panel member, uh, meme? Hmm. I, I have a problem with contract number one. Uh, this is the English language learners. Uh, I mean, I'm supporting this, uh, task. This is not a question of the task because class task is needed, but the question is, I try to recognize this company who win this contract, and it's not in New York City, New York State event.
And this is, uh, some burn in the, I don't know even where. And I think in my opinion, we should give this money to New York City, uh, organization who do this for our student who know the student, who know the teacher, who know the problem, not somebody company from nowhere. This is my opinion for that. Thank you. Thank you. Did I see any other hands? Yes. Ela. Good evening everyone. Adriana Les, she her here for Queen CECs. Um, I wanted to call attention to contract item number two. During our briefing, we discussed whether
or not, uh, AI was going to be used with, uh, with that contract item. And, um, the answer, the answers were a little bit muddy for very specific reasons, and that's okay. But I think we need to really carefully examine contracts like this because, um, and, and because we need to be careful about the ways that we are very, very insidiously introducing AI into the classroom. Thank you. Thank you. Panel member? Yeah, panel member Cas ready? Um, I just wanted to go back
to the reason why I asked the table. Um, and I'm sorry for not explaining it in more detail previously. So for item number seven, we heard, uh, a speaker, uh, stating the problems with the process. And, um, basically if you look at all of the numbers, the DOE stands to lose $120 million, um, due to whatever problem is tying this up. And it doesn't make any sense to try to resolve it after the fact.
And so that was why I was asking for this delay on voting. Um, given that we're about to look at budget numbers and the SCA $120 million in our pocket could go a long way for item number eight. We also had, um, complaints from the vendor deluxe delivery, claiming that they also would be saving the DOE, um, $1.7 million across the three years. And that the vendor that was chosen does not have the same experience
or credentials as deluxe delivery. And so I'm just calling on more transparency in this bidding process, um, because we, we really shouldn't be having vendors writing to us saying that DOE is going with a, a far more expensive vendor, um, without justifying that. Thank you. Yes. And, Uh, thank you Chair. I just wanted to follow up on some questions that our office had during the contracts briefing we attended.
I am, I'm not aware that they were answered in any follow-up communications, um, but I think it would be good to get some clarification. Um, we noted that agenda items 10, 15 and 16 are once again retroactive, um, childcare contracts, early childhood education contracts, um, these contracts date back to July of 2024. We had asked, um, during that briefing whether these, um, providers were actually providing services, um, since the start of the school year without getting paid,
or whether because of the delay in contract, they had actually not been providing services. I think we were provided clarity on agenda item number 10, that the S-D-A-S-D-Y plus contracts, um, those vendors did not start providing services. Um, providers did not start providing those services until December or January, but we never got clarification on agenda items 15 and 16. Um, the other question we had asked, um, it was actually in the chat when we were discussing agenda item number 17, which is the nursing contract at the time.
DOE told us during that briefing, I believe that staff nurses, um, are, um, when you look at their pay, they earn about $88 an hour. Contract nurse is a hundred. Our office had asked, including fringe, what the differential is. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, again, any other panel member wishes to speak or wishes the floor? I'm assuming by the silence that we're ready for the question then let, Can we just respond, um, oh, The deal? We like to respond? Sure. Absolutely. Right. The process, I mean, our,
our procurement rules lay out the process and the decisions are based on the merits and the vendors who have the ability to, um, file the protest. And we are work, we've worked through the legal process to finalize decisions. The PPP rule authorize the these to be presented for votes at this time, and vendors can certainly continue to pursue their legal rights. But we have followed the process that's clearly laid out in the PPP in our rules On this. Just to, just to add to that chair, um, it is, these are competitive bids.
Mm-hmm. So we have, uh, usually several bidders who, uh, seek the contract. Uh, that's true in both of these cases. Uh, we have very structured processes to evaluate and to score those proposals. Uh, I would just point out the, the criteria are public. It is not, it is not secret. You, you can look and see, uh, how, um, uh, how these proposals are evaluated. Price is always a factor. It is never the only factor. Uh, and so, um, it is extraordinarily important,
uh, that we follow the PPP. There are procedures for losing bidders to protest. Uh, and we must evaluate those protests and respond in writing. If we do something that is beyond that is outside of the procedures in one case, because of what we hear from a losing bidder, then it's gonna be very difficult for us to not do that in every single case when there're a losing bidder. So, chair, I just wanted to provide that insight. I appreciate that clarification. And is it also my understanding that, um, where a bidder may have been deficient in something,
they are advised in what they need to provide in order to clarify or correct any failure in the Well, the vendor, if a vendor is deemed non-responsive because they didn't answer a part of the bid, they may not be able to go further in the process because the bids are sealed. Bids. Yep. Um, so these, if it's not a technical error, but if something is missing on these things, they may not, they may be found non-responsive, which would then they wouldn't continue on in the process. Um, Okay. That, that helps clarify that. And they would be advised and then they have their legal
rights that are in our rules. Great. Thank you. Um, let's proceed to a vote now. We're gonna, we're gonna vote at this point. Um, secretary, please call the roll. Uh, there are no recusals. Um, and so when I call your name, indicate how you wish to vote, and if you wanna vote differently on any particular contract, uh, let me know at that time. Um, member Ali, oh, sorry. Please come back to me. Member Ali, say, Uh, no on two, no on seven and eight, because who's the real loser there and no.
On 17 Yes. To the rest, so no on, oh, sorry. Abstain on 17. Yes. To the rest, let me just No. On two, seven and eight. Yep. Abstain on 17. Yep. And otherwise, yes. Yes. Thank you. Okay. Member Arnold? Yes. To all member bin, I am abstaining from 2, 7, 8, and 17. Yes. To the rest, Um, member Casre abstaining to seven and eight. No. Um, yes to the rest member Dean Stag.
Yes. To all member fair. Thanks Dan, for the clarity Yes to all. Um, vice Chair Green? Yes. To all member Hassam, uh, abstaining on seven and eight. Yes. To the rest member ho Yes to all member Esto abstaining on 2, 7, 8, and 17. Yes. To the rest, Uh, Member meme abstain to one and seven.
And what about the rest? Uh, yes. Um, member Owin. Yes to all. Um, member Ong. Yes. To all member sap. Um, thank you for the clarity Yes. To all Member Shepherd. I abstain from two seven and 2 7 8 and 17. Yes. To the rest. Um, we are joined by, uh, member seat sang on How do you vote? Abstain to seven? Yes. To all. Uh, member Ra? Yes. To all chair Faulkner.
Oh, wait, wait. Lemme go back to Member Ali. First, um, abstain on the seven and eight. Yes. To the rest chair. Faulkner? Yes to, I will finish the counting, but, um, based on the vote, um, item seven and eight will not pass. I just gonna finish the counting and report it. Sure. Um, the other items pass and I will report shortly on the numbers. Okay. We'll come back to you on the numbers. Okay. We'll move on to the next item with the agenda, which is the, um, consideration
of proposals for school utilization. Secretary, interrupt your account for a second just to present the motion resolution. Yes. The resolution up for approval is entitled Resolution to Approved Changes in School Utilization, which comprises the following items, the proposed merger of New Millennium Bronx Academy of the Arts oh nine x 3 28 with New Pathways Academy oh nine x 5 94 in building X 1 45 in the 20 25 20 26
school year, the proposed merger of North Bronx School of Empowerment, 11 x 2 87 with leaders of tomorrow 11 x three 70 and building X one 13 in the 20 25 26 school year. The proposed opening and co-location of P 180 8 X at X 1 38. A new site of existing district 75 school PS X 180 8 75 X 180 8
with PS 1 38 Samuel Randall, zero x zero eight X 1 38 in building X 1 38 in the 20 25 20 26 school year. The proposed great expansion of PS 1 0 5, Senator Abraham Bernstein, 11 x 1 0 5 from a K through five school to a K through eight school, and the opening and co-location of P 7 23 X at X 1 0 5. A new site of existing district 75 school
PSX 7 23 75 x 7 23 with PS 1 0 5, Senator Abraham Bernstein, 11 x 1 0 5 in building X 1 0 5, beginning in the 20 25 20 26 school year. Okay. Thank you. Uh, is there a motion to ex, um, consider the, uh, resolution? You made the motion and you're second. Okay. So we have motion and a second. We will, um, are the superintendents here? Are any superintendents who'd like to offer comment? Just come to the microphone. Yeah.
And I'm just reminding the superintendents two and a half minutes. Good evening. My name is Christine Vaughn, superintendent of District 11. I'm here to talk about the grade expansion at 11 X 1 0 5 from a three K to grade five to a three K to grade eight. And I'm here with my partner, superintendent Lasan, who's gonna also talk about the D 75 program there. So the proposed grade expansion at PS 1 0 5 will provide students with a seamless academic experience
reducing transitions between schools. This expansion will help meet the growing demand for high quality education in the community, while enhancing student outcomes through sustained support and resources. Our engagement on the proposed grade expansion at at 1 0 5 began with a commitment to transparency and collaboration with families, staff, and the broader school community. We conducted multiple meetings to ensure stakeholders had an opportunity to share their thoughts
and give their input. We met with the CEC, we met with the SLT, we met with staff. We held town halls, and we also had a joint public hearing. At each stage. We actively listened to feedback and incorporated community concerns into our planning. Through these engagements, we heard strong support for expanding opportunities for students, while also addressing space utilization and resource allocation. We remain committed to ensuring this expansion benefits all students at PS 1 0 5
and aligns with the needs families and educators. I'm gonna pass it on to Superintendent Luan. Great. Thank You. Yes, Good evening. Good evening panel members. So close. I come before you tonight once more to advocate for two proposals to open North side for District 75, 1 in District eight and one in District 11. As you can tell, I did not come here before you alone.
I have a lot of backup right here. And those are the families and the parent leaders of District 75. As you know, this work is never done alone. It's done in collaboration with our parents and with our staff and with our student as well. Those two site are important to our student. It'll keep them for, for, it'll help them access learning in their own communities. And as Superintendent Vaughn just told you,
we have engaged with every stake, with all stakeholders to make sure they're concerned. Their issues were addressed and taken into consideration. And the two superintendent are also here, Jennifer joined, and Christine Vaughan, because we intend to do this work in partnership. If something is not good in the beginning, we will take time to figure it out and resolve it,
because we know our student are deserving of the best possible work we can do together. Our principal is here, our assistant principals are here. That mean the whole district 75 community is ready to engage with District eight and District 11. Our parents are there to support us, and we are asking that you vote for those two proposals.
It'll, they will allow our student to not have, as, you know, to have to take boss rights to all the district or not to have Superintendent. I hate to do this, but your time has expired. I give the rest next time. Okay. Thank you. I'm sure. I'm sure you will. Thank you. You can begin. Hello everyone, I'm superintendent Jennifer joined from District eight, and I echo everything that Superintendent Lache said. I'll add just a few details to his wonderful message. Um, in terms of community engagement, um, we engaged our cc,
which is here District eight cc, um, on January 10th, and a virtual engagement, and then again on the 15th of January with an in-person engagement with district planning, who's also here tonight with us. Um, we engaged the SLT at PS 1 38 in the middle of January. And then the beginning of, um, February and February 5th, we had a full community engagement with an auditorium filled, again with district planning, um, for community members, CBOs, parents, um, and such to engage in this process.
Um, and to talk about it, as Chris said, all of the, the comments, feedback, and things to think about as we move forward. We conducted a building walkthrough on March 4th. Um, on March 11th, we held a public hearing, and we will have another walkthrough on April 1st with our District eight CEC to just look at the space once again. Um, to Superintendent Lasan point and District eight, we have a high demand of students who need district 75 seats. And so this will really help us out. We are up, 28% of our students need these seats,
and currently in District eight, our students who reside in District eight have the highest travel distance to get to a school to attend a district 75 site. So this partnership will help reduce that. We're aiming to add between 60 and a hundred students in the PS 1 38 building. It's a fully accessible state-of-the-art building. Um, we wanna add 10, um, special classes that will range from 12 to one to one eight, to one to one in a six to one, to one setting. In full partnership with my, um, fellow colleague, superintendent Lasan and the parents
and our principal from D 75 that's here tonight. Thank you. Thank you Very much. Good evening, pep and community members. My name is Harry Sharman, superintendent of School District nine. Thank you for the opportunity to speak about the proposed merger of MS 5 94 and MS 3 28 into a new middle school offering on the 1 45 campus in District nine. MS 3 28 is a School of the arts and MS 5 94 is an international bachelorette candidacy school, both serving grade six to eight. Currently MS 3 28 serves at 125 students,
and MS 5 94 serves 150 students, both schools experiencing steep enrollment decline over the past five years and facing further significant decline in the coming year. I've engaged extensively with stakeholders from both communities, including meeting with SLTs staff, students, and families from both schools multiple times. We've brought together staff, families and students multiple times as well. Thank you Dalia, for the acknowledgement of our, our good work. Uh, that was, that was great to hear and and appreciate your, um, your awareness of that.
Uh, I've also engaged in multiple conversations with elected officials, CC members and PEP members. The CEC President I, DNOs Flores has permitted for me to share that she expresses her support for this hard but necessary decision. There's understandable anxiety about what will happen to the arts and IB programs that are at the heart of the identity of both schools if the merger is approved. I deeply empathize with these concerns and the inevitable feeling of loss that comes with potential change. My concern is what will be lost if the
merger is not approved? The schools are already limited by their enrollment. For example, neither school currently is able to offer music or computer science. There are eight DOE schools and two charter schools with students in grade six to eight within four blocks, just four blocks of the 1 45 campus. We have to reckon with reality and make the hard choices that allow us to compete in this context if we're going to save these schools. I wanna be clear, this is not a closure soft or otherwise for either school. I'm extremely proud of what 3 28 has been able to accomplish providing a rich arts experience in getting
students into specialized high schools. And the strong pathway that 5 94 provides all students by merging, we can preserve these strengths so they are not lost in the face of unsustainable enrollment loss. I'm committed above all else to ensuring that the arts and IB programming in the new merged school continues while maximizing the combined enrollment to strengthen opportunities for students and leveraging the new merged identity to attract more students and families. Thank you for your Consideration. Okay. Thank you. And thank you, superintendent. Now I noticed you're, you're coming back online superintendent? Yes. Why?
District 11 has a second proposal. Yeah. But we've asked the superintendents to, to stay within a two and a half minute present all their proposals. Understood. Okay. Thank you. You got your fan club here. I hear you. Listen, we're we're good. But you know, the reason is we have a very lengthy agenda tonight and, uh, we're trying to be as tight as we possibly can with time. Um, but we've heard the message and we, and we know the enthusiasm of the superintendents in presenting. That's very palpable that, you know, you're excited. So we're happy to see that and we're happy to see that the community's important. Yeah. Chair Faulkner. Yes. But if Superintendent Bond only spoke to one of the schools,
like she didn't speak to the other school, I made a ruling as the chair that the bo the panel can overrule that ruling if you feel that you wanna do that. But, um, I've been asked by panel, I've been asked by can we please do we please have order. I've been asked by panel members to try to keep, um, all the presentations within a certain amount of time. I'm doing that. If the panel wishes to do something differently, the panel could certainly vote to do that. Chair Hawk. Now I would move that we allow Superintendent Vaughn to speak to, um, the, um, uh, one, basically I've made a ruling you proposal.
Basically the motion is you wish to overrule the decision of the chair. Okay. I wish to overrule the, okay. Is there a second to that motion? Okay, so we'll proceed to a vote on that. Um, That the D 75 superintendent should be allowed to present on his additional proposal as well. Was the Well, I would assume if we do one, we'd have to do all Yeah, do both. Not all. Just Both. Well, Right now it's just both. Well, let's proceed to a vote on, on the decision and the chair. Okay. Secretary poll The roll Is the A vote of Yes. Would uphold the motion and overrule the chair's decision? A vote of no. Would. And is that with respect to both the superintendent
of 11 and 75? Yeah. Will be both. Okay. It makes a yes vote is to allow both superintendents to present. I think about to come back and speak. Okay. Okay. Member Ali? Yes. To allow them to speak. Member, um, Ali say yes, allow them to speak. Member Arnold? Yes. Member Ban? Yes. Member Bo. Oh, he's not here. Member Cas. Yes. Member Dean Stag. Yes. Member Fair? Yes. Member Garcia not here. Vice Chair Green. Yes.
Member Hassan. Yes. Member Ho. Yes. Member Sto. Member Mira May. Yes. Remember Owin? Yes. Member Ong. Yes. I'm sorry. Sorry. Member Sap O. Yes. Member Shepherd. Yes. Member Sang. Yes. Member Ra. Yes. And chair Faulkner Abstained. Okay. Hey, hey. This is democracy. This is democracy and this is how it works.
So the motion, the motion passes. 18 in favor. Thank You so much. The, Let me, hold on. Let me just say this, that when the next time when the speaking and you're now saying, well, why are we allowing, I'm gonna remember this. So, uh, This will never happen Again. Just remember, you get what you asked for, superintendent's the floor is yours for Thank you. Well, Now, now you wanna put a limit. She just, now you wanna put two minutes. Um, what we're trying to, okay, hold it. I get it. What we're trying to say is essentially that we, when we have a lengthy agenda, there have been instances where these presentations have gone on
for quite a long time, and we would really ask you to be concise in your presentation. So, um, you know, I, I think that that's the message, but we also wanna show respect to the various programs that, um, are being presented. Thank you. The proposed merger of North Bronx School of Empowerment 11 x 2 87, with leaders of tomorrow 11 x three 70, and building one 13 aims to enhance academic programming, streamline resources, and prog provide greater support for students.
By combining the strength of both schools, the merger will create a more cohesive learning environment with expanded course offerings, improve student services and a stronger school community. Our engagement process for the proposed merger was comprehensive and ongoing, and ensured that all stakeholders had opportunities to provide input and share their perspectives. Engagement efforts included multiple meetings with school leadership team, SLT, and multiple staff meetings.
Additionally, we facilitated a broader discussion with the community at a joint public meeting, which gathered insights and addressed staff concerns. Throughout these meetings, we actively listen to feedback from families, staff, and community members, refining our approach based on their input key themes that emerged, included the need for additional supports for students, clarity on programmatic changes, and ensuring a smooth transition. These conversations have, have helped shape our planning and we remain committed to continue collaboration
to best serve the students and families of leaders of Tomorrow and North Bronx School of Empowerment. Thank you. Okay. Does any, any of the others wish to have additional time? Superintendent Luan, did you wanna address the other one? I yield my time so you can have, so, so you can have time to consider my, our two proposals. That, that's very nice. Superintendent. Thank you for your, he, he has, he has yielded his time. Um, uh, you know, uh, so I, I appreciate that.
And again, that my comment there, it had nothing to do. I think that these are obviously proposals that you put a lot of work into. There's a lot of enthusiasm, which I think it's great. Um, so, you know, again, I I anticipate a very favorable outcome. So, um, are there panel members, we'll now move to, um, public comment. Public comment, Yeah. I almost hate to say this, but public comment. There is a two and a half minute time, uh, public comment and so, uh, but we'll ask secretary to call the, uh, public comments. Sure. Um, first I'll call council member. There's a council member, Stephanie Bonia, um, then Doral
Basian, Amy Ann Vout, Ramon Gza, and Charlotte Bacher. I apologize for all the mispronunciations Are. You can begin with. You can begin with and just introduce yourself when you begin speaking. Please. It's whoever gets to the mic first. Uh, within that five. Nobody else wanna go first? Okay. I can Answer. This is about the proposals, correct? Yes. Okay. My name is Stephanie Bonia, CCC 11, vice President D 75 rep.
I appreciate the 1 0 5 expansion. Proposal was changed to a different site for the District 75 site as no leadership with retaliation should have an expansion. I also appreciate being heard as a voice in District 75 in so many families. I, I approve the great expansions that it will help our communities expand further educational goals for our students, the proper procreation of space and would benefit the most, the both communities
and able to accommodate their students without leaving anyone behind. 7 23 has shown that it deserves opportunity for growth and development as an expansion. I'm glad families will be able to be closer to home and not being able not be in long hours of transportation with O pt. Mr. Kevin Morat, as we all know, that is not great district planning. CC 11, district 11, or, um, district office district 75, district office.
We appreciate you all and all the collaboration and sitting with all stakeholders. That way we could have a voice in the participation of this projects. And I say projects 'cause I am also speaking of the merger for District 11. We worked hard for that as well. And I am in a, in collaboration of approval of that proposal too. Thank you. You can start. Hey, uh, good evening everyone. Um, first and foremost, I wanna say, uh, thank you to the pep members that visited our campus, um, earlier, um,
last week on last week Thursday. My name's Darl Bastian. I'm the principal of MS 3 28, um, new Millennium Bronx Academy of the Arts, uh, which share space with 5 94 New Pathways Academy. Um, honorable PEP members, superintendents, colleagues, um, and community members. Thank you for this opportunity to address you. In regards to the proposed merger of New Millennium Bronx Academy of the Arts. Over the past three months, we have worked diligently to prepare our school community, uh, for this transition. We've organized student mixers, hosted family nights,
and collaborated with district leadership to envision a new unified identity. While these efforts have brought our communities closer, I stand before you today with still, you know, a heavy heart about the merger process itself. Um, concerns that extend beyond our situation to the future of our district. Uh, this process has exposed a systemic failure to honor the humanity of school communities. Declining enrollment is not unique to our district, but the language and the execution of this merger have deepened wounds rather than healed them by unilaterally des, uh, designated one school
as the prevailing institution, the DOE has dismissed the value of our contributions and the trauma of this solution. My staff's grief about, uh, um, this merger is not resistance to change. It's about being told that after 22 years of service that your work is disposable. Students who chose our school for its arts focus, who now, you know, must now face, um, an identity crisis, uh, will the talents, uh, will their talents still matter in the new school? Um, as it not mattered in our school. When we reduce mergers to transactions,
we forget the schools are living ecosystems of relationships, traditions and dreams. This is not an isolated issue. 20 years ago, our district served 30,000 students across 20 middle schools. Today we serve 16,000 students, approximately across 35 schools. An unsustainable model field by charter expansion and school choice policies that prioritize competition over community. This hypers saturation has turned schools into rivals fighting for survival. Let's be clear, rather than partners in education.
If mergers are now the solution to this problem, um, then, you know, we ask that we do them with equity and we do them with grace. This means one, uh, neutral naming and branding to honor both institution's histories. And I want to thank Superintendent Sherman and my colleague, principal Turnbull, for allowing us to engage this merger with that affect. But we had to fight for that shared leadership in the transaction that integrates staff equitably transparent criteria
for determining mergers developed with communities not dictated to them, increased support for students and families throughout the process, and not unilaterally disregarding the loss and the grief that the community experiences last month. I pledged, uh, to, to our community, um, that I would turn this challenge into an opportunity. Um, we have kept that promise. Our students have and will engage in joint workshops to foster their integration as one school community. We are putting our students first. Our families have and will again, participate in collaborative family events
hosted at the campus site. Our students are currently working together to blend logos of both schools and adopt a shared mascot of our beloved MS 3 28 panthers. We're proud of that. Yet these efforts cannot undo the pain of being labeled less than by a system that you served. As you vote tonight, I urge you to consider a few things. The precedent that this sets in District nine for future mergers. The psychological impact of students who internalized their, that their school lost The
dignity of educators. That becomes collateral damage in this process. The moral obligation of to treat educators, decades of service with dignity and not dismissal. In my closing, I'd like to say the new Millennium Bronx Academy of the Arts has proudly served the District nine community for 22 years. And I have been its principal for 19 of those 22 years. While change can be difficult, I believe that with the right approach, this merger can create new opportunities for our students, for our families, and for our staff. However, we must acknowledge the emotional toll
that this process takes on all of us. I stand here not in opposition, but in hope, hope that we can use this experience to create a more equitable, transparent, and supportive process for school mergers in our district. Let's commit to this process that truly honors the legacies of all schools involved and prioritizes the wellbeing of every student, every teacher at Teller Avenue and every family affected. Thank you so much for your consideration. Thank, Thank you for your comments. Um, and also, and, and also for your service.
Um, I had the chance to visit the school during that, um, uh, meeting. And, um, you know, it's very evident that there are great things happening within that building and, um, hopefully they're gonna continue. But I do hear the, the strong feeling that you have for your students and for your school, and it's very much appreciated. Thank you. Is there anything, Okay, the next group of speakers, um, one of the student speakers also signed up for this. I just wanna make sure, I don't know if she's still here. Um, destiny, Ali Roman, um, line James or Lynn.
James Ricardo Camacho, Aldina Martinez, and also another student, um, Evelyn Bafo on the, if they wanna speak on this, and you can begin speaking. When you get to the microphone, just please introduce yourself. Uh, goodnight everyone. My name is Lynn James Turnbull. I serve as principal at New Pathways Academy, also known as Middle School 5 9 4. It has been my honor and my privilege of my life to open and lead this school for the last seven years
alongside my dedicated staff and the Tele Avenue community. I'm speaking tonight to share the thoughts that I prepared from Monday's, SLT, which the pep members were unable to attend. I'll start by urging the PEP to examine the decrease in enrollment across the city and to partner with city council to consider holistic measures to retain community members in our neighborhood. While this proposed merger will disrupt the hard work and the community ties that our schools have built, it is absolutely necessary to ensure that we continue
to provide the level of programming and services that our students and families deserve. Voting against this merger may be doomed for our schools with less than a hundred students each as we open up our school doors in September, which will cripple both ecosystems and lead to the closure, possibly of our schools in the future. If you do vote in favor of this merger, I ask that you ensure that the necessary funding and support is provided so that it is successful advocate for our school
to receive additional funding, to provide every family with sufficient uniforms, and to ensure our schools and our hallways are representative of our unified school identity. Support our school to ensure we can successfully become an international bacca ette World School, while remaining maintaining the vibrant arts programming and the robust support services that our commu our community wants and needs. I also ask that you work intentionally to build enrollment pipelines across our district so
that this new MER School has a chance to thrive. How will the district help us compensate for the dozens of charter schools who have the funding and the infrastructures to recruit students door to door at their homes and on the sidewalks of our public schools? Competing with charter schools cannot become the responsibility of teachers and administrators. Our hands are full. This is a system level issue. I'll end by sharing that I am committed to co-creating a merged school community.
We have already begun this work, as my colleagues spoke about, by collecting feedback from our students, our staff, and our families across both schools, through a variety of combined activities on campus that has helped inform the vision of our future school, including a vote for a new school name, logos to come and school uniform colors. With your support, I know that I can guide our community to heal 'cause it will take that process to grow
as a new school combined, and to beat the odds in our community that we will be able to have a school that will thrive in our community. So, I urge you to vote on this merger, but I also ask of you to look at all of the factors that brought us here tonight. Thank you for your time. Good evening, everyone. My name is Ricardo Camacho. I am the dean at New Pathways Academy, and I'm also one of the founding members of New Pathways Academy. And I am for the merger. Being a founder of New Pathways Academy under the leadership of Principal Turnbull has been a transformative journey,
not only for myself, but for many that have walked through our doors from the beginning. In 2018, Ms. Turnbull has set the tone for a school community, built on trust, respect, and high expectations. She believes in collaboration and values, the voices of everyone in the school, parents, teachers, and students alike, ensuring that decisions are made with the best interests of students at heart. Her leadership has created an environment where both students and staff are seen, heard, empowered to grow beyond her accessibility.
Ms. Turnbull's, love for our students has always been the driving force behind her leadership. She's treated every child as if they were her own. One minute she's correcting their behavior the next minute she's braiding their hair mm-hmm. And always advocating for their success and wellbeing under her guidance. New Pathways Academy has become more than just a school. We're a family. And for years, our two schools, MS 3 28 and MS 5 94 has functioned as a unified community long before merger was even discussed.
We've have shared experiences that go beyond the classroom. We've worked together in summarizing. We've worked together for Saturday Open gym, we've had barbecues together. We've broken bread as family and competing even side by side for flag football and a basketball team in District nine. These moments have built trust, comradery and shared sense of purpose among our students and staff. The merger is a natural next step. Students, uh, strengthening the bonds we've already established and allowing us to provide even more
opportunities for our students. We're not just two schools coming together. We have always been one community, and now we have that chance to make that an official school. Thank You for your comments. It's be great. The, the mic? Yes. Um, hi, my name is Aldina Martinez. I'm a parent leader, um, at MS 3 28. I wanted to share, first of all, to say thank to thank you to Ms. Sebastian and Ms. Turn, um, for opening their doors, their hearts, um, making this process as easy as possible.
Even though it's heavy, it's not the best situation. I did wanna bring, um, to you guys' attention. There was, we had a meeting, uh, last week and the question was, why, why is this going on? Um, and there's a few reasons why it's going on. For the past five years, we've dealt with Covid. We've had parents pass away. I I know a few parents that they either passed away or they got ill. Those kids were supposed to be in middle school in our D nine middle school. They're not here. They never came back. Some of those kids that their parents passed away, they had
to get relocated because the nearest family wasn't even in this district. Um, there's other people that I know. They traveled down south, they went down south. There's a whole lot of things. Um, then we have the immigration situation, and you would think that they, we would have kids being enrolled in our schools. I'm, um, a healthcare worker. There are times where I have to take clients to the appointments, and I'm seeing kids in the subways. They're selling candy and stuff between the hours and nine, 10 and 11.
That's attendance hours. I don't understand why they're in the subway. Um, and a a, a lot of relocation because people are scared of their safety. With the gang situations coming in from different countries, you know, people have become more scared. So they started leaving, you know, um, for the past five years, that's what our community has been plagued with. It's just been hard. It's been hard that people are finding it hard to survive. Um, there's the, the uprising, the domestic violence at the beginning of Covid that also caused families to go elsewhere to seek safety.
So I just wanted to bring those things out. In the past five years, that's what's been plagued in our community, and hence why we don't have a whole lot of enrollments in, in our schools. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank You. Yeah. The next group of speakers are Joseph ot, Samantha Cruz, Carlene Richardson, Zilla s and Nelson DeLeon. Uh, good evening. Um, my name is Samantha Cruz and I am a math teacher at New Pathways Academy.
Um, I'm here to speak about, um, the vote for the merger, which I do agree that, um, it should go through with all the reasons that we have spoken before because of the fact that we have declining attendance. But I wanted to just speak on, um, the history and things that we have had happen at New Pathways to so that we can understand that. Um, we are with open arms, um, to MS 3 28. I have had the pleasure of being tenured. Um, here.
I have been here for six years. I came in in the second year of New Pathways opening, um, in nine, in 2019 when we had our first sto, our first math test, we were at 5%. Even through covid. We have not declined in our scores. We have only risen. We were one of three schools, um, that continued to increase our scores in math. Not only that, through the pandemic, we were still able to make sure that our students had live, um,
virtual classes, which allowed them to continue increasing in math and ELA. Not only then, we are now, um, at 40%. We have more than doubled and tripled our scores in both in math and ELA, our subgroups for ENL. There are students that come to us, um, in sixth grade with no English, and by the time they reach eighth grade, they are already exiting the program. And they are not in an ENL program when they hit high school. Also, our students with disability,
our population has also grown. We have moved so many of our level ones through into having level threes and level fours. So, um, the majority of our students with disabilities have shown so much growth through this time. We have continued progress academically and our students are able to successfully, um, continually exiting. So not only that, but we also have programs like Regents for Math and ELA. And these are our seventh graders and our eighth graders that are passing our math and ELA Regents. So I just wanted you to consider that. Thank you. Thank
You. Good evening, pep members and all honor guests this evening. Uh, I'm here to thank you for your consideration of the merger of North Bronx School of Empowerment and Leaders of Tomorrow on the one 13 campus. We believe this merger will build on the strengths in both schools to provide additional opportunities for students, families, and our greater community. Over the past few years, both schools have made work together to make tremendous gains and improvements. Incidents have declined improved climate and culture is seen in our hallways,
and there have been a closure in the gap between our school and the city average, both in mathematics and ELA. Unfortunately, these gains in both schools have not stopped the overall decline in enrollment on our campus. We believe this merger will allow us to better highlight the achievements of our schools and students and improve the enrollment as we move forward. Additionally, we are working to develop an innovation center on our campus to make sure that we are empowering, and I say empowering because I want to make sure that we are inclusive
of both schools leaders of tomorrow. I want to thank student member Dalia for highlighting the work that was done at 3 28 and 5 94 in making sure that student voices are a huge part of this. We have done similar work on our campus to make sure that student voice is prioritized, and we are being intentional in making sure that student voice comes first and so that adults can make decisions afterwards. So, I thank you for your time and encourage you to approve this, uh, merger. Thank you. The next group of speakers is Eunice Re,
Denise Gutierrez, Frank Patterson, Leticia Thompson, and Wanda Belin or BEUs. Good evening everyone. My name is Eunice Ari and I've had the privilege of teaching at New Pathways Academy for seven years. While statistically, our school neighborhood is considered one of the poorest congressional districts in the United States, that label does not define the hundreds of brilliant students I've taught these past seven years. When we started in 2018, almost 90% of our teachers were new
to teaching, and truthfully, we were clueless. Thanks to Ms. Turnbull's leadership. I can humbly now say that my peers and I are effective teachers. With the help of coaching professional development and leadership opportunities, we have been able to see growth not only in our pedagogy, but most importantly in our student learning. We have been able to reduce level ones in our ELL population from 74% in 2018 to 50% in 2023.
Our students with disability also went from 74% to 43% in our level one on the state exam in ELA in 2018, we only had 2% of our EL scoring proficiency on the ELA state exam. And now we have 12% of our ELLs, um, scoring proficiency. This is thanks to our rigorous IB curriculum, which has been created by teachers and specifically for our student population. At MPA, we believe that every child can learn regardless
of their cultural background or academic history. And so we design our curriculum to push them to achieve their goals. Our English department teachers are being able to focus on being experts in that discipline and subject area is also the reason for this success. Our horizontal meetings helps keeps our teachers cohesive so that every child in every classroom receives high level instructions. We are able to collaborate on strategies that are scientifically proven to help students learn the data proves without a sh a shadow
of doubt that our hard work is paying off. And so New Pathways Academy deserves to stay open and thrive. I also want to recognize MS 3 28 for their years of hard work and dedication. And I believe that merging the excellence of these two schools is in the best interest for our students. Thank you. You can begin. Hi, good evening. My name is Denise Gutierrez and I am the school counselor at New Pathways Academy, MS 5 94. I am also one of the founding MA members. Um, I am actually in favor of the merger as well.
Um, and I wanna start off by saying that I sympathize with, um, the MS 3 28 school community with regard to the uncertainties that come with this change. Um, after Covid student enrollment has significantly declined in both schools, and our recruitment efforts have increased for both schools. Um, decline in student enrollment means less funding, which directly impacts programs and resources for students. Therefore, I think the merger makes sense. Um, and lastly, I just wanna urge that both school communities show the same resilience
and adaptability that our students show us every day. The speaker can begin. Good evening, everyone. My name is Leticia Thompson. Um, I am currently a professional parent in District eight. Uh, that's my, my, my job. I'm a professional parent. How y'all doing? Um, and I'm here supporting our superintendent. Uh, Jennifer joined in the expansion of PS 1 38, uh, which is right in the middle of our district. So we have a very, uh, expanse district.
It goes from th frog's neck all the way to the South Bronx. And then we have Soundview and Castle Hill in the middle. And so this expansion is absolutely going to benefit our entire district because it will ensure that our babies do not have to be bused out of our district, and that our parents are not on that line with OPT and, and worrying about busing. Right? And so this is definitely a good win. And I wanna say that with the inaugural D 75 seat, um,
being placed on CECs, that, um, our Wanda Belinas has been so brilliant in bridging our D 75 family and population with, excuse me, with our gen ed. And what that gives us is a village. And I think that this, this expansion is going to give us more of a village feel, um, where we can touch and we can see our babies, you know, and we can actually see our parents, right? Because one of the things that we lack in our village is our D 75 parents being able to come out at night
and being able to actually engage in their PAs and their SLTs, right? They're online most of the time because they have to go home for their services. And so what I need us to understand is that when we say we're putting a D 75 colocation, it means that we are expanding our village and we're bringing our people together. So I wanted to say that, um, thank you Wanda, for adding that to us. And I wanna say in my last 30 seconds, I hope you gimme five extra. Um, thank you that this also is something, this is something
for us to do really well, right? And so we did propose with district planning on the CEC presentation that they think about a three year plan to expand us to, to expand us to eighth grade that will prevent our babies from having to figure it out for three years. And we can just have them stay right on in from kindergarten to eighth grade so that there is no destabilization in their support in their village, and in the way that we can embrace them and educate them, um, you know, just as a, as a straight line.
That was a, so I put that on. I, I I appreci you. I appreciate that was A five extra seconds. That was the deal. You made a deal. You can begin. Good evening, everyone. My name is Juan David Va. I am the proud first historical district, 75 members in the CEC in Community Education Council for District eight. I am, I consider myself the bridge because I want to bring all our families together. I was going to add into the conversation about the utilization of, of actually not utilization, but the, um, the co-location of P 180 8 X
and the district. But Ms. Thompson, um, my fellow council member just mentioned it. Uh, I wanted to bring to attention that as the district 75 representative, I represent seven schools. P 10 x 12 x 17 x 180 8 X 1 8, 180 6 x 180 8 x 3 52 x and 7 21 x. My daughter, my daughter, which is the reason why I am a council member. She's in high school districts. Um, the district schools,
the school districts only go from kindergarten to eighth grade, which is funny. But hey, I am here for all our families. I am always here at your service. And I want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to bring this. Um, I forgot to say we do have in co-located, I have exactly 21 schools within my district, and I am the only one that is actually having to do the walkthroughs of these buildings. So principals that are from District 75, please allow me
to visit your school 'cause I do need to do the walkthrough and please accommodate me. I am very reasonable and everybody, as you heard, know that I am very pleasant and get along with pretty much everybody. Thank you for your time. I really appreciate you being here, and I'm always at your service. Have a wonderful evening. Thank you. Thank You. I believe there's additional speaker. Yes. Um, Kelly Vega. Hi. I wanna thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Unfortunately, I'm speaking on behalf of members of New Millennium Bronx Academy of the Arts,
who were not informed correctly on the process to speak this evening. And so, five staff members who were speaking on the merger of their school, who signed up online, were not able to speak because they were not informed that they had to speak in person. So, I have a speech tonight prepared from Amy vau, um, where she shares that she feels that this merger does not fully address the issues that are causing the merger, nor does it justify moving forward in the process. Um, she's concerned that although the enrollment trends obviously are very clear,
that New Millennium Bronx Academy of the Arts is unique in many ways and will not be replicated in the newly merged school. I also am going to, uh, paraphrase here. I'm very nervous. I didn't intend to speak on anybody's behalf tonight, but I think it's very clear that this community does not feel a part of this process in a way that is fair to them. They should be here, and they should be able to speak. They should be able to share what their contributions to this community have meant for the many decades that they have been here. So thank you for this opportunity,
and I urge you to consider the five different speeches that you did not hear from tonight that we will urge them to submit as public comment. Thank you. Yeah. Oh, uh, chair, that is the end of the public comment. Sign up. Thank you for the public comment. They will now move to panel member comments. Um, are there panel members who wish to speak Thank, uh, panel member. Yes. Panel member Shepherd. Thank you. Um, so as the Bronx CC representative, um, uh, I wanted to take, uh, a few moments
and just speak to, um, these four proposals. Um, I do want to, before I get into it, um, I do want to say, um, how proud I am that, um, our community showed up, right? Like our parents, our teachers and educators, our principals, our superintendents. I look around the room and I see so many people that I know and love and care about. And I see you all here tonight really speaking up, um,
for these proposals. And I just wanted to start there by saying thank you. Um, before I get into it, um, that said, I want to start with, um, the proposals that I think, um, are a bit easier to, to, um, address. So the District eight proposal, um, I want to say thank you to the, um, district eight community for, uh, really like carrying on a conversation,
um, that started a few years ago. And, um, I remember a few years ago when we would talk about, um, uh, expanding district 75, uh, programs, the pushback that we got from communities. And it, it, it really does feel good to see, um, communities as, uh, council member, um, Thompson said, really embracing our students in district 75 programs. And that is really a testament to, um, the work
of community in partnership with, uh, superintendent Joint and Superintendent Luan. So I just wanna say, um, thank you and I support that one. The next one I wanna speak to is the, uh, 1 0 5 proposal. Um, now Stephanie, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say this to you because it take a lot, and if y'all don't know Stephanie Bonilla, uh, she make her mind up, like she is either an unstoppable, uh, force or an immovable object. And, um, I wanna say thank you to, um, uh,
superintendent Vaughn and, uh, superintendent Luan for really listening to the community and, uh, retooling this proposal. Um, nobody had a problem with, uh, 1 0 5, uh, the expansion of 1 0 5 from a K to five to a K to eight. Um, if you understand District 11, you'll know that that is the little Yemen section of District 11, and there are no middle school options over there. So, um, to give that community, uh, a middle school option is, you know, a long time coming.
Um, I do, like I said, I wanna say thank you for really making sure that the District 75, uh, program that we connect to 1 0 5 is the appropriate, um, district 75 program. I just wanna say thank you for, um, doing that work. All right, so the next one is the North Bronx School of Empowerment and the Leaders of Tomorrow, um, merger. All right, so this one, and the next one to me are kind of two sides of the same coin. Um, and I'm starting with this one because, um, years ago,
and this played out disproportionately in the Bronx, um, our schools were, were, were carved up and they, they were, they were carved up, they from a single school into like these campuses with, uh, several schools on them, right? So we went from one 13, the Richard R. Green Middle School, uh, and then we had four middle schools. And over time, we, uh, closed one, and then we closed another one. Um, and now we're merging the last two. And what that will tell me is if we started
with one middle school, turned it into four, and then merged it back down into one, uh, that does kind of represent a failure of this system to invest in our schools, uh, in a way where we wouldn't have to like end up where we started. Um, uh, thank you to, uh, superintendent Vaughn and Principal Bi Knot, uh, for really leaning into the, uh, longtime conversation that CC 11 has had around expanding access to CTE programming. And, uh, I, uh, would hope that in addition
to, um, you know, the, the AI type of, uh, uh, program you're considering that you also consider the needs of District 11 and, uh, additional types of CTE programming that allows for, uh, our middle schools to, uh, middle school students to, um, you know, learn and, and learn new skills. Alright? So now the last one I wanna speak to is the, uh, 3 28 5 94 merger. And, you know, I, there are 1,855 students that live
in this neighborhood, right? Middle school students that live in this neighborhood. And there are 10 schools in, like, if you walk four blocks, there are 10 schools. If you literally walk outside of this building, there's a middle school, a charter middle school right across the street street. And if you just like simple math it, right? 10 middle schools, 1,855 students, you're talking about 185 students on average, all things being equal. But we understand that all things are not equal, right?
We, we look at this neighborhood that had to deal with the same types of things that one 13 did, just in a different way, right? So we went from a few schools in the neighborhood to 10 schools. And where we end up in this is, um, schools that are, that end up being like unsustainable. And you know, I've given this one a lot of thought and I just want everybody to know that, um, some of these decisions aren't easy, right? Like, some of them are really difficult and they require a bit of soul searching.
And, um, where I am is, you know, if we don't merge these two schools, then we are at risk of losing both of them. And for our communities that have dealt with so much, you know, that have dealt with covid, that have dealt with, um, all of these external forces that have dealt with, um, charters and, and, um, you know, so many things that, you know, there is an opportunity, um, to really make sure that, um, the new school, right?
So I don't see this as, you know, merging one school into another one, then we lose one school, and then the other school is the dominant school. Like I haven't, or the prevailing school, right? Superintendent chairman has made it clear that we are establishing a new identity for this school that respects both the IB program that, um, uh, 5 94 is, is offering and the absolutely amazing, um, arts program that 3 28 offers. Um, so with that,
I will be supporting all four of these resolutions. Thank you Chair Faulkner, I back Yeah, thank you panel member. And I know we as president, the next person to speak would be, uh, panel member Guo to another Bronx rep and then the other Bronx reps. But if you bear with me, I'm gonna give the students an opportunity to speak because they have to depart. So if you, let me just divert from the process for a moment. Um, who's first? Okay, uh, Dalia, Thank you. Um, I want to address the school leaders of MS 3, 2, 8 and 5 9 4, and say that I hear your concerns about the retainment
of students and the movements of students to different avenues which affect public student, which affect the DOE student populations in these districts. And I want to note that by creating larger schools via mergers like these, we now have the capabilities to get more funding via the fair Student funding formula, which places an emphasis on student population and funding per head based on also individual needs. And I myself am a proponent of the carved up Washington Irving campus, and yet am a firm believer that with some consolidating our resources in effective manner, it allows for competition with Azure educational avenues.
This panel has heard many perspectives from these communities, and I want to state from my experiences on the panel, I have yet to see a merger with as many positive components as this one. And I note that there was not much direct student input from MX 3, 2, 8. And from my understanding, this merger maintains both of the programs that are unique to the individual schools. Not only that, but it elevates them with more resources to sustain these two very special and important programs. It makes me really proud to see such a caring community from students up
to leadership at the very top. Thank you. And Isaiah, did you wanna comment also? Yes. Um, so I think the panel for considering space optimization and utilization throughout the Bronx to maximize resource efficiently and tackle longstanding issues in our communities. As you move forward with this proposal, I would encourage those in leadership leadership positions to prioritize transparency and how these decisions will be implemented and monitored. Please remember that each decision impacts each student differently. And to bear in mind how our voices and actions reflect our commitment
to preserving equitable avenues of growth in our schools, ensuring that stakeholders, including students remain informed about progress and adjustments will reinforce trust and improve overall outcomes. Thank, thank you both. Now, now we're gonna go back to our Bronx speaker, and that means Rima, I apologize because you have to follow them and that they, they, they raised the bar. Actually, they have raised the bar quite a bit. I was actually gonna ask you to go to someone else and come back to me. You, you can yield, but you're the next, as the, uh, and I think they're one or two other Bronx reps, but um, so I'd love for you to come back to me actually, would you?
Yeah. Do you mind? Amy's my sister? We can. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Alright. I, Bronx sites, this is a true Bronx site, born and raised here, so I'm very proud. Shout out to Ms. Barn. She knows how much I love her. I'm familiar with her process because she's my former middle school superintendent for my daughter. So when I was part of the CECI got to actually watch her, um, collaborate with the principals that I actually saw speaking earlier and showing what parent engagement looks like, community engagement looks like. So I got to see it firsthand. So I'm really excited to support that initiative for sure.
And all the other, uh, initiatives that was being proposed tonight. And I wanted to talk, really going back to expansion because I thought about myself in my experience of why I chose MS 1 94, right. Ms. Wall, when I was under you. 'cause I know I stressed you out when I interviewed you. And a couple of points I had just wanted to bullet out to say like, it's really important. I was thinking of my daughter, just to give you more context. She is a IEP student. And I remember when, um, being a single parent trying to find a school, I wanted to find someplace where I can have, uh, continuity, um, because it would be too much for her to transition from school to school.
So it was really important to find a K through eight school for me. So I just kind of highlighted things that stuck out for me when I went through that experience. And that was the continuity education, the strong relationships with the administration and teachers, the stability for the families, the better social development. So I got to see my daughter progress because she had the continued support throughout from K to eight. The curricula, the curriculum flexibility was really important. Um, because I had a specialized situation, a lot of less stress on me because I had that support from the school, a really good school environment, right? Because if your kids are within the same, um, safe space,
and I've heard a lot of parents talk about that earlier, that's really, really impor important, um, for their development. So I'm a witness to that. I'm a my daughter's a product of that. So I really just really wanna support any type of expansion happening where we can always have our kids stay in one school as much as possible. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Now we return back to Rema Al, panel member from the Bronx. Well, president representative, Thank you for all that. Yes. First time ever. Thank you. Um, so I'm struggling. I'm, I'm, I'm struggling with the District nine merger because, um, I, I am talking to the community.
I've been getting messages all night about the being unclear about vo um, voicing their opinions not in person. And, um, the several people that did come to speak or did sign up rather, um, I think we need systemically to define what engagement is and maybe to redefine what it should be. Now, after Covid, I know that most of not all of our regulations predate 2020. And I think that a lot has changed and that we could always do better. And, um, the entire community did not feel equitably
heard, equitably engaged, um, or even equitably provided the opportunity to exist. Um, the, the resounding feeling, um, was resignation. It wasn't, we want this, this is gonna be good for our community, is it was presented to us in a manner where this is gonna happen. So figure out how we move forward. That should never be the case because as, um, principal Bastion mentioned the numbers and words on our spreadsheets are children and people.
And, and you don't manage people. You manage things. And so I'm struggling because I understand the intentions behind merging, and I understand the community understands, but they don't feel that they were given a chance and they don't feel heard. Um, the overwhelming feeling is that they would've appreciated at least the year to give them the chance because there are other schools that are more under-enrolled than these two schools. Um, and, and they won't be below
the threshold this current year. Right. But also kids. And so how do you balance what a community is, is living like their lived experience with what we believe is better on paper? Because if on paper you combine the two schools, then we're looking at a 52% enrollment decreased. If, if we just smush 'em together, right? So then that's the average of their decreased enrollment. So their question was, will we be back in two years asking them to merge with South Bronx International, which is a third middle school in the same building?
Um, and, and so the other issue that was brought up was what are we doing about this, the environment with charter schools? And that was presented to us in that SLT meeting as a school board. Like what, how, how are we supporting, um, schools that are fighting for the same students that are fighting for the same funding, that are fighting for the same space. We're robbing Peter to pay Paul and they live in the same building. And so Paul is right here while Peter, like you're actively taking stuff to give to Paul and saying that we have this great recruitment plan
to make this new school better. That doesn't exist yet, but we don't have a recruitment plan for the schools that already exist. So I'm, I'm struggling with that. They have, um, that they mentioned they've been open for seven years and that their teachers, a lot of them are new. A lot of these teachers are tenured, have been there 10, 20 years, have been serving this community without, without fail. With not missing a beat, even being a big school and then broken down and then built up again, and then spread out again and all of that. And they have stayed for these kids and for the community. Um, so I'm, I'm struggling with that a a lot balancing, um,
the, the community versus like how we, how we future looking support that community and, and make meaningful changes. Um, I I am in support of the other, I'm very struggling guys. I'm sorry. Um, No, you know, I, I think we hear you and I, and I think, you know, we've had discussions, um, even today to talk about how we can improve the process. Any process could be improved. We can see weaknesses in areas that we can strengthen, um, and some of the things you've outlined. And I think we're gonna see a receptive audience. 'cause I think the department is saying the same thing.
How do we do better? And so I think that's the universal message. So if we're all on the same page with, so let's do, let me, you know, let's do better then, then let's really put our heads together, come up with policy and, and make some recommendations and then we'll improve it. So to that point, after this vote, I would appreciate if we had some type of meeting with the powers that be to discuss what that looks like immediately, because we're gonna continue to have utilization proposals come up. Yeah. Um, there actually is another one here
where the community didn't actually feel the way that we were told they felt. Yeah. Um, and because like I have several kids and all of these districts, I have these preexisting relationships and I'm not gonna fight on that one. But there were multiple problems with engagement. And so if we could have a promise a, to have a session about how we do school utilization proposals better, and b, if we can sit together and outline a couple of like, non-negotiable items that we need when these proposals come up, so that we're not asking for data the week
before or the day of. Yeah. Because the meeting was two weeks ago. And so now we're scrambling. And three, um, superintendent Sherman, you are gonna be my new best friend. We're gonna go to that school and we're gonna make sure that we give them everything that we promised to give them. Sure. And, and I think we're gonna have receptive partners. I, I, I don't think this is a case where we're not gonna receive the support. The panel did generate a letter, uh, recently outlining some of the concerns that you raised. I think we all universally kind of saw this. So now the, the, the next part is rolling up our sleeve, sitting down and, and making some recommendations
and having a back and forth. And we'll be able to, uh, you know, to, to do this better. We can always improve anything in the process. One of the goals that I think that, um, the chancellor has, has expressed and one of the goals that members of the panel have expressed, we wanna make sure that people feel may not always agree, but that people feel engaged in the process. And, um, I've had that experience in, um, I think in recently getting a lot of letters on a particular topic that's on the agenda tonight and responding to each one. Um, and what people have actually said is, yeah, you might disagree, but, but we're being heard.
And I think that that's the most important thing. And I hope that message gets out to parents that we're learning. And we may not do it in, in the perfect way, but, but it's really a commitment that this panel has it. That we wanna make sure that you are being heard and that we are listening to what's being said. It doesn't feel that way sometimes, but, and, and we'll figure out how to make that better, but that you are being heard and we are listening carefully to everything that is being said. And we're gonna continue to do that, and we're gonna do better at it. And when we're not doing it as good, you need to let us know as, uh, and, and we'll be receptive to that.
Okay. Is there any other comment? Yes. Um, Bronx people first, bro. Bronx, Near Bronx. I'm actually a Bronx person, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna wave it. Uh, okay. So any other panelists? I move, uh, Darla Shortly. I would like to, uh, special, especially thanks to every teachers and administrators who work in District 75. This is so hard work. You can even imagine how hard it's, I spent one or two days in the schools as, as a teacher. And I know. And I just wish that every central office,
uh, employer spent at least one day in year to support this program, to know how artists this, to understand this is not 75, this is not the number. This is a real, very unique people who, who would definitely need very hard support. Thank You. Thank you. Okay. Yes. Ka Lewis being said. Hi. I'm gonna make it quick. I just wanna shout out to all the parents of the 75 in the Bronx. Keep doing the great for doing.
We need more schools, less commuting. And this is exactly what I've been talking about for years. Rema knows we fought the school bus, we fought everything, but now it's coming to fruition. Guys. Keep doing it. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other comments from any other panel? Panama, Pamela, uh, vice Chair Green. I dunno. Good evening, everyone. Yes. I am a Bronx person. I'm a Bronx girl. And, uh, yes, I see my, my people. Uh, I was the, the first principal who had to take in three new schools in the building of one 13.
And at that time, the school was considered the, one of the most dangerous schools in the Bronx. Well, in the city, New York City. So I have to applaud everyone who is here because I have never, while I've been sitting on this panel, I've never heard where the entire community came together to encourage the merger, even if they really didn't want it. I heard that they were in favor of the process and they were in favor of what the superintendents have been doing. And I have to applaud this audience for the wonderful behavior of the adults
because we've seen some that were really overly passionate. But I've seen the positivity. I see Principal Bear not smiling because I visited his, the school that I started at, and I see him there. And it must have been some great work that has been done because that school no longer has the metal detectives, right. That school no longer has the dangerous, uh, the dangerous category, uh, for our students. And I saw such a tone when I last visited that school.
And that's under the leadership of our superintendent in that district, district 11. That's Christine Vaughn. I, I've known her for, for a long time. I've seen her move up from a math coach, and I've seen Principal Bennett, and I'm just so proud of that Bronx community, this whole Bronx community. Oh, by the way, I was a teacher in District eight. So Jennifer Joint, I knew you from, well, you didn't know me. I'm, this is way back when you were probably, uh, in middle school. But, uh, I, I just, I applaud all these superintendents who are working together. I've never seen it before, so I gotta hand it to the Bronx.
Right on. Right. Okay. Are there any other Yes, Bronx or near Bronx people who wanna from the Bronx member? I wanna note panel for the record panel member Jordan Giardano has, has joined us. Thank you. Panel member. Um, are I, I assume, are we ready for the question? Yes. No comment. I need see. Oh, I'm sorry. Member. May I? Yes. Upper West Side. Yeah. Washington. Washington Height. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The height.
Um, thank, thank you Chair Faulkner. Um, and for the record, my grandmother, uh, born and raised in the Bronx in the Kingsburg section. So there's some wrong size there. Um, I just want to elevate the point that, um, several members of the public raised regarding this wider trend of declining enrollment. Also the point that, um, fellow panel member talked about having a sit down and a conversation. Thank you Chair Faulkner for reminding, uh, the panel, but also the public of the letter
that we talked about at our last meeting, talking about the importance of community engagement and then actually defining what exactly that looks like. So my my point is, um, looking forward to that conversation and, um, really looking forward to that conversation. Turning into action and actionable steps, um, with all parties involved. Thank you. Somebody has to be, they have to somebody, they be from the winning side. So somebody has to demonstrate that they changed their you. Yeah, we have
Somebody can change their, yeah. Why? Okay. Um, yes, everyone, Thanks. Um, a few, a few pep meetings ago, uh, CC 16 said that they wanted to have a resolution calling for comprehensive enrollment assessment and support plan for District 16. Um, I thought this was a great idea. I feel like New York City needs that. We need a exit survey for families who choose charter schools, why they're leaving the system and not in a multiple choice form of survey in like essay form, short, uh,
summary form explaining why they're leaving the system. And somebody has to pay attention why these families are leaving so we can improve our, um, public schools so they don't leave to charter schools. Thank you. Okay. Sure. Would you Like to chat? I, I think chancellor like to say something. Yeah. Can everybody please, uh, let's come to order. That's okay. Uh, so that's actually a, a really great recommendation and something that we are, we already did. Um, first Deputy Chancellor has really been leading that charge and, uh, perhaps we can brief the pep on the results of that. But we surveyed families who have never enrolled in New York City public schools
as well as families who have left New York City public schools. And what I can tell you without delving too deeply, 'cause I don't wanna take us off course, um, is that one of the, I think it was the top reason, right, Dan? Uh, rigorous instruction. Rigorous instruction. Yeah. Rigorous instruction. Um, and the other one was, uh, safety Welcome, welcome, welcoming environment, which, you know, for us, we translate into safety, wellness, uh, the whole, the whole way that we look at climate and culture. But again, happy to, to, to speak with you all about that. It's a really fascinating, um, it,
it's a fascinating report and it really tells us where we have to spend our efforts as a school system. Okay. Um, yes. Yes. Hi. Um, off the coattails of these mergers is very important that systemically, um, communities that have been historically disenfranchised, like everyone shows up differently. And it's important that we have roots. And I don't want to look over the fact that qualitative data will never be quantitative data.
The nuances, the colors, the, the engagement, the characteristics of kids, the engagement, um, of children living in a community in which, and, and going to the, going to school in the same community, the the fellow down the, the block who sponsors events for the schools or donates, um, Coca-Cola or soda or something or water to you. You can't really quantitatively measure those things. And we try and we should.
And these nuances tend to be overlooked and historically just not factored. It has always been a quantitative gain. And we have to take care. We must take care of these ecosystems. Each school is an ecosystem lived experience, like the gentleman said. And we must find a way. Listen, things happen. But we also have to consider when you're dealing with a history of trauma, when you're dealing with a history
of, of harm, how this impacts the mental health of a community. And we, and, and, and people when situations occur, can feel like you're trying to disappear them. And that is a tremendous, that has a tremendous impact on the mental health of, of students and kids and communities. So I know historically it hasn't really been done, but we really need to captivate the nuances of qualitative data when we make this quantitative decisions.
Thank you Chair. Faulkner, do you mind if I just add one really quick thing? Actually, I do. Really quick. No, I'm, no, no, no. We need to, we need to move to a vote. I mean, um, you know, I've been, I've been asked to be a little bit stricter in terms of managing the time and I'm, I'm trying to do that by panel members who've asked me to do that. So I'm trying to be respectful of that. I was flexible in the last section. We're gonna resume now to move forward and, uh, move this, move the process. So let's, let's proceed to a vote on this resolution. I will call the roll. There's no recusals.
If you wanna vote differently on any of the items, please let me know. When I call your name member Ali? Yes. To all member Ali, say yes to all. Member Arnold. Yes. Member Alban. Yes. To all Member Retti. Yes. To all Member Dean? Yes. To all member fair? Yes. To all Member Giardano? Yes. To all Vice Chair Green. Yes.
Member Hassan. Yes. To all Member Ho Yes. Member au. Yes. With the three conditions outlined earlier, member, uh, stepped You Stepped away. Here you stepped away. Sorry. Member Owin. Yes. To all. Member Ong. Yes. Member sap. Yes. To all Member Shepherd. Yes. To all Member Sang Yes. All Member Vera. Yes. And Chair Faulkner? Yes to all. So the motion passes. Um, 19 In favor.
Um, no Abstentions. One person missing. And no Nays. Congratulations to the community, though. Always feels good when it's a unanimous, uh, decision, but it's a tribute to the work that you've done. So, congratulations, Chair Faulkner. Before we go, um, to the next item, I can call the, give the results. Of the vote on the contract. So we have that in the record. Okay. Thank you. Um, so on item number one, there were 18 in favor and one abstention On item two, there were 15 in favor, one no vote, and three abstentions.
On item seven, there were 10 Yes. Votes. One no. And eight abstentions. Item eight 12. Yes. Votes one. No. And six abstentions and item fif. 17. There were 15 yes votes and four abstentions. And all of the re rest had, um, 19 in favor. Great. Thank you for the report. Appreciate it. Uh, we'll now move on to the next item on the agenda, which is the five year, uh, capital plan amendments.
Um, secretary, would you please, uh, present the resolution? Yes. Uh, the resolution up for approval is why Don't, why don't we wait until people, I know people are leaving, but do we have some order folks, as you're departing? I know you're excited. Keep it down a little bit. I know the Bronx. Yeah. Okay. But, okay. What, and there's a paddle member running down the aisle, so, okay. Gonna say what you'd like. Yeah. Okay. Let, let's go on. Yeah,
I think we're good. Uh, the resolution up for approval is entitled Resolution to Approve the February, 2025 Amendments to the Five Year Capital Plan. Is there a motion to, um, present move? So, second and second. Move to second it. Let's begin with, um, public discussion on the resolution. Remind, remind anyone who wishes to speak that the discussion is on the five year capital Planned Amendments. Okay. The individuals who have signed up, Rebecca Chenko, um, Stephanie Bonia,
Amy s Quan McLean, and Sarah Aldo. Oh, okay. And if you're at the microphone, just introduce yourself and you can begin speaking. Alright. Thank you. Is This working? Yes. Okay. Um, my name is Rebecca Chenko. I am a New York City parent, former, she's now in college, but I'm also a member of the Arise Coalition. Um, if you're not aware of us, our coalition is a group of parents, educators, advocates, academics, and other stakeholders concerned about youth
with disabilities in New York City. Um, we've been working together since 2008. I've been a member since 2013. Um, and what we hope to do is improve day-to-day experience for students with disabilities and their families, and the long-term outcomes for those students in our city. Um, I am here to reiterate, arises Urgent Call and mine as a parent of a child with a physical disability to do more to make New York City School buildings accessible to students, parents, educators, community members with physical disabilities, possible possible future pep members, mayors, uh, chancellors.
Um, five years ago in the last Capital Plan, we had a watershed moment where, uh, we got $750 million to make schools more accessible. And before that, the rate of accessibility improvements was such that to become a fully accessible city in terms of schools, 'cause we're far from fully accessible in many, many ways. But in terms of schools, it was gonna take 170 years. So that $750 million really reduced that timeline. Um, and so here we are again, and now we have 800 million in the budget.
But as we all know, post pandemic, five years later, 800 million is not 750,000,005 years ago. When it comes to building buildings, uh, we are asking for another $450 million to be added to this line in the bud in the capital plan. Um, that would get us in the next decade to 45% of the school buildings being fully accessible. We're still, that would still only be 45%, but it's a lot better than 160 years. It's a lot better than where we would be with just the 800. Um, currently, uh,
30% of those buildings are accessible without fully accessible buildings. The school near where our student lives is often not an option for students with physical disabilities. As I was told, when my daughter went to elementary school, I ended up taking her up the steps every time she needed to go up and down the steps that she could live in her community and go to school in her community and know her friends. Excuse me. I get very emotional about this. Um, students who need accessible occasions end up being bus far from home. We were given a place an hour away, and they don't ride school buses with other kids. They ride in isolation a lot of the time. Um, they spend hours a day going back
and forth, often with medical disabilities, et cetera. I'm running out of time, but I just wanna say, I, I think you all know what this is about, and I just, I want you to realize that the highest rates of poverty are people with disabilities. The highest rates of unemployment are people with disabilities. The people who use more food stamps are people you compare them to. Any other minority, I could go on and on. And these are the kids who are giving the least choice. 70% of our schools and every one of their peers thinks that it's okay to segregate against them because 70% of these school buildings don't have them in the buildings. So that's the future of the kids who are able-bodied, is
to learn that discrimination and segregation is okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um, I'm sure, yeah. Good. Um, good evening, members of the Panel for Educational Policy and Chancellor. My name is Amy Sai. I am currently the Community Education Council District 10 Bur Appointee by Vanessa Gibson's office. Um, tonight I am in support of the RISE Coalition as a member of the Coalition in Support here for parent, uh, Rebecca. Um, I have been a long time, uh, very proud advocate for District 75, but today I really wanna express
around accessibility. Just like Advocates tonight talked about transportation, accessibility, making sure that students get to go to schools near their homes so that they have all the opportunities that they can really receive at inclusive as well. Um, but we wanna really talk about capital improvements in our school buildings, around our school buildings, in the bathrooms, in the classrooms, in all the areas of the building. And so, you know, as Rebecca said, there is investment in the last five years. There's invested now, but we need additional investment to make sure that the city
of New York is above more than half of this entire city of 1800, um, schools to make sure they're fully accessible, not partially, not some kind of makeshift bathroom in a classroom or on the side somewhere in the hallways, but really fully accessible. And I wanna express tonight, since I really have a short time of the testimony, is in my community district, 10 PS three 10 in Marble Hill Elementary School. They are pre-K to five, fifth grade. They have their pre-K in an annex of that, uh, complex.
And the parent, uh, parent community has expressed to our CC meeting last night that they want their building to be accessible so that the students who come in with wheelchairs, the students that have temporary medical conditions or challenges, can come in their building, especially in District 10. We have a lot of those students who get bused out of our largest district in the box with 56 to 63 schools, including pre-Ks, are not fully accessible or even close to partially accessible. So I encourage all the members on the panel to please come
to our schools, especially the bathrooms, visit the bathrooms to make sure that they're a DA compliant, and make sure that the students can actually use the sink and use their toilets the way they need to for physical disabilities. Students with hearing impairments and visual impairments, every individual and educator and parent who comes in the building should be able to come into an a DA compliant building. So I just wanna say that, um, that please don't ignore those vulnerable communities. I appreciate you listening to me tonight. Thank you. Thank, thank you. And thanks for your advocacy in District 10.
Um, The next speaker You can begin Your form is confusing. I signed up for all comments because I didn't wanna not be heard. So I just want, I I signed up for the utilization. Can I speak about that here? Well, we've already voted On it. Oh, okay. But I'm gonna still say what I want to Say. You know, I did make the announcement at the beginning. That's fine. I know if you were here Yes, I was. Okay. So I just wanna say, or that I am a family of a CH and I would like a CH funds to be actually investigated in all schools as to what schools are doing,
not doing with them, and not meeting with their necessary needs for families like coats, uniforms, book bags, et cetera, that could be purchased with the HT H funds. Instead, families are not even told that they could qualify for these benefits. And communication is limited in educating parents on the things they could ask the school for assistance and prevent a CS cases with families instead of providing assistance for preventive services. Unfortunately, what we see in here is articles
of staff using HTH funds to take their own families to Disney World trips, et cetera. This is so disgusting and disrespectful to all families in need to do to those funds. We have been speaking about many issues happening in the White House pertaining to funding and decisions being made about the partner of education. I am for DOE, keeping our federal funds that our student needs and supports. I just want DOE administration to at least take initiative to investigate the things going on within
schools about these funds. And partner with your ccs, your SLTs, to gather more information needed. Let's do workshops on educating families on the McKinney Benzo Act and the Chancellor Regulation a seven 80. That way families could be better advocate for their families for school, um, and go to their CCCs and SLT to help assist them. I hope Pep panel members and Chancellor Ms. Les Ramos could take this consideration for the future
and how to make sure our families could get the funds that we need. Appreciate being allowed to speak tonight. Thank you. Thank you. And you made a couple of very good suggestions that I think we should take a look at. Thank you for coming out. No problem. Um, I have called all the names of all the people who signed up for public comment on the five-year Capital Plan. Okay. Floor is now open for panel members who may wish to comment. Panel Member Shepherd. Yep. Thank you. Chair Faulkner. Actually, I'm, you know what? You actually made the motion so the maker of the motion gets the privilege of speaking first. So, panel member, council ready? I'll come back to you. Do you wanna re accept that or I, yes, you gotta go.
You can, you can refuse it, but that normally Okay, Tom, go ahead. Thank you, chair Faulkner. Um, you know, this is the part where, um, school, like we just voted on these, uh, utilization plans, then everybody got up and left, right? And this the part where we vote for how we gonna pay for it. And, um, I raised this serious concern last year, and it was the reason why I voted no on this capital plan last year, was the fact that there is $0 for new school construction in the Bronx for the next five years.
And the response back then, uh, was, you know, we're gonna vote for it this year. And then we're gonna look at, um, what the amendments look like along the way to make sure that, uh, the Bronx also, uh, receives equitable, uh, funding under the capital plan. Well, I'm very disappointed to look at, uh, the 2025 Amendment and see that there is still $0 for new school construction in the Bronx. Um, you know, so when we look at the way that,
um, or what these capital plans pay for, they pay for making our schools accessible. They pay for making sure that we have space necessary, um, to make sure that we are, uh, compliance with the, uh, class size reduction law. Um, the fact that the Bronx still has $0 to me, uh, does not represent, uh, what we said last year when we said we would look at, uh, making sure that the Bronx, uh, was represented equitably, uh, moving forward. So, I plan on voting no, uh, on the amendment for the 2025,
uh, amendment to the capital plan. Thank you, chair. Faulkner, I yield back. Sure. Thank you. Are there any other panel members? Panel member Casre. Thank so much. Um, Camille Cass for the Brooklyn Borough President Appointee. Um, I wanna highlight three items in this plan. Accessibility, upgrades, facility upgrades, and class size mandate. Um, so I'm gonna start with the accessibility upgrades. It's more than 30 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, yet only 30%
of our schools are fully accessible, most of which are because of new construction. Um, as we heard from the Arise Coalition, the city needs to allocate at least another 450 million to this capital plan for accessibility upgrades, which would bring 45% of school buildings to full accessibility by the end of this decade. Um, the lack of accessibility causes unseen, financial and experiential costs to our city and to our students. Without fully accessible schools, students
who have mobility challenges are required to travel outside of their district by school bus lose hours of necessary sleep, and are separated from their neighbors and friends missing out on afterschool activities. Parents also have a difficult time engaging with school community and are unable to attend, um, parent leadership meetings, S-L-T-P-T-A and school events, especially if they have children enrolled in other local schools. Um, in inaccessible schools require staff with disabilities to work only in certain a DA compliant buildings.
Parents and grandparents also may have physical disabilities and require access for in classroom activities and presentation. Um, the lack of accessibility undermines parent engagement and causes harm to our students negatively impacting their academic and social emotional outcomes. Um, I wanna also elevate that CECs were diligently doing school visits in the fall to ensure that their school buildings are well kept. Yet their top five items that get submitted to SCA don't usually get chosen, um,
for these capital plans. And there's no efficient way to track what has been asked for. Districts like D 16 in Brooklyn need bathrooms and light fixtures. Um, the schools in Brooklyn are not asking for extravagant things. They're not extras. They're necessary improvements to our a hundred year old buildings. Many of these buildings have needed major upgrades for years, especially in bed tu Our students cannot continue to be denied the facilities that they need and deserve to compete with all of the other students across the city.
Um, this is not just about maintenance, it's about equity ensuring that schools that are, uh, existing and underfunded districts are provided with the same privileges that higher funded districts receive. Um, in, in my catchment area of Brooklyn, four districts in particular, D 15, D 20, D 21 and D 22 will have a difficult time reducing class size without new construction. Um, taking into account all of the school closures and mergers that we've seen this year in Brooklyn alone,
we're still at a disadvantage in meeting class size goals towards 2028. Um, and then there are the charter co-located schools holding onto dozens of empty rooms due to outdated building utilization plans. SCA says they must expand the number of seats in the capital plan to 70,000 to meet the class size mandate. Yet there are only 33,400 seats funded in this five year capital plan with almost 7 billion allocated for capacity increases. We are only at 50% of the targeted goal.
Um, in not funding the seats to meet the class size mandate. Penalties for non-compliance can total up to 756 million in withheld funding. Um, for contracts for excellence, this is the state funding that we usually receive, um, in part to reduce class size. So, like we're having a circular conversation by, by intentionally not proving that we are going to meet the class size mandate. So with all of these points in mind,
I will be abstaining from the vote. Okay. Is there anyone, oh, I'm sorry. I was waiting for the list Here. No problem. Good evening everyone. Um, Queensborough President appointee to the Panel for Educational Policy. Um, I'm gonna talk about some of the stuff Camille, um, went over. I'm gonna talk about. First topic is on the small class sizes, I, you know, see other things. There are many. I'm gonna say that there are many pathways to be taken in order for this system to, um, meet the, the standards of the class, um, sizes, the new seats.
Having new seats is only one of the ways for us to be in compliance if we are only relying on new seats is gonna take us forever. Right? We have to, uh, come with, uh, um, other ways to be in compliance, not just new seats, but annexes, expansion, capacity mergers. We need to do everything possible to make the mandates. And I have to say the DO we is at 46%. So they already passed the, the second benchmark, the New York State gave benchmarks knowing that it's not an easy task and you cannot do it overnight.
And the, um, department of Education and SCA are saying that we should be in compliance for the next benchmark, which is 60%. Um, but with that in mind, I want to make sure that the exceptional rule is not used as a tool to not making all schools in compliance. 'cause we'll be doing our scholars injustice. And yes, we need further transparency for people to see, uh, how are we going to get there for the class size mandates in regards to that, um, in, in the budget plan and in the capital plan. Then the second half would, uh, Camille touch on, you know,
we need the playgrounds, the beautification, the gyms, the auditoriums accessibility needs. These physical environment is essential for a thriving and conducive learning environment. These things have to be done. And I understand that it's not, uh, the, it's not school construction or capital funding. We are not given the fund. But I think we all need to stick together and advocate we need more money. That's, but bottom line, and it's not on the SCA to get that money, they can help advocate. But I think we really need to start knocking down on the door
and we, in regards to get these funds. And, and Camille, there are too many districts that are undelivered with these needs. And she already to touched on District 16. Again, they have stuff on their list for years, 10 years, and they still haven't getting what they wanted on these lists. And I'm just asking, please, I am voting yes though, uh, on this plan because we really gotta start somewhere. Um, that, but we really need to get together and really, uh, come up with more conducive and get the money we need. We're in the business of education. We need to be funded.
Thank, thank you for those comments. Pamela. I, I agree. I think we need to formulate ideas and really begin to, um, as a panel and as the New York City Board of Education assert ourselves and say, these are areas that we need to really focus and put some attention, and we need to direct these questions at the funders, the City Council and say, you know, we need the resources. You know, we can't ask the DOE to do something, and then they not have the resources. So we need to stand with them and fight to get those resources, um, that are necessary and, uh, be a partner and, and, and that, and that, uh, struggle.
So, uh, because I'm certainly certain that all of these things were outlining or things that the department definitely wants to do, but you need to have the resources in order to make that happen. So, yes. Uh, and Member lie. Thank you Chair. I just wanna take that a step further because I think that's an excellent idea. When we are briefed by the School Construction Authority about why only 33,000 seats are funded when they themselves believe that 70,000 seats are necessary to meet the class size law, when we ask them
why there is $450 million in accessibility funding that is not in the capital plan, the answer is that it's OMB, it's the Office of Management and Budget that is making these decisions about underfunding these things that are necessary for our schools. And so, perhaps the ask should be, instead of just being briefed by the school construction authority on what their five-year plan is, maybe the pup should be briefed by the Office of Management and Budget on why they are making these decisions
and putting you the panel members in the position of having to vote for plan that under funds our schools in multiple ways and being put in a position of being forced to vote yes. When in fact, there are very salient aspects of this five year plan that are, are doing harm to our schools and doing harm to our students because they're not sufficiently funding them to, to do the things they're supposed to be doing. And so, I would suggest that perhaps the Office of Management and Budget when evaluating the School
Construction Authority and when evaluating the budget every year, come and brief the pop on how they came about making their decisions. So Nave, we're looking at your committee. Yes. Uh, you know, you knew, you knew it's coming, um, as our well, you've been doing a great job as our government affairs, uh, person and, um, sort of guide us in this process so that we can begin to engage in those kind of conversations happen. Yes. That's why I pointed him. Okay. Um, who's next? Do I see any other hands?
Are we ready to vote? Yes, go ahead. I, I did see a hand. Who Mariel. Heather. Okay. Mariel, go ahead. Um, thank you Chair Faulkner. Um, just wanna elevate the point that, um, panel member li talked about, um, we strongly encourage that, um, we just voted on a number of, uh, D 75 proposals and we kind of got a resounding yes across the panel, which I think is amazing. Um, and exactly that's where I'm going.
So let's put the money with where we voted. And I'm looking at our fellow panel members. You all voted, including myself for these D 75 proposals. Yet we know currently the capital plan, as it stands, only reflects, or the 800 million that's currently allocated will only bring 40% of schools to full accessibility in five years. Let that sit with you. So my my point is, if we talk about being a welcoming, a diverse, equitable, and accessible school system, let the budgets reflect it.
So with that, I will be abstaining. Thank you. Okay. Are there any other panel comments? Me? Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. Is anybody else? Sorry. Thank you. Hello again, everyone. Adriana, Alicia, she her here for Clean CECs. Um, I wanna echo all of the comments made by my colleagues, the panel members who spoke before me. Um, unfortunately, the gap between where we are with this capital plan and where we need to be remains stark and full of secrets. Um, but the importance of collaboration with the community is reflected directly by S CA's response
to questions about how they plan to address the gap in funding. Um, as previous estimates of 22 to $27 billion may still end with us scrambling because there may still be a sea of crowded and overutilized schools. So their answer to that is that they have to be creative about the way that they create space. And I understand that this is New York City, we build up not out for a reason, right? Um, but during our briefing, Nina Kabuto explained to us that the seat need has decreased to around 70,000 seats.
Um, and she further explained that this decrease is due to changes in enrollment. And I'd like to note that unbalanced enrollment is a significant issue, and it is fully within the control of the DOE central offices. I remain disappointed in the removal of the $450 million from the plan for accessibility improvements. There are countless schools in Queens that are completely inaccessible. And yes, this absolutely hurts our students first and foremost, but it also hurts our staff. It hurts that first graders pregnant mom. It hurts everybody's grandma. Okay?
We're supposed to love our grandmas guys. Uh, I remain disappointed in the fact that, um, approving this is approving a $0 investment in the Bronx. And I'm not okay with saying that. Thank you. I remain disappointed in the lack of investment in infrastructure that houses our children. You know, our students anywhere from four to 10 hours a day. Those buildings are also, you know, our friends' offices, our teachers corner office, that's their classroom. And if it's crumbling, that means that their office is crumbling. Would you go to work like that every day? Or would you like complain to HR and facilities
and the office manager, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera? I remain disappointed in the funding of less than half. So only 33,000 of the, uh, 70,000, the SEA themselves noted. These are our communities, these are our children, and this is our collective future. It's going to look the way we allow it to. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Any other? Okay. Well, I think, I think we could proceed to a vote. Please indicate how you wish to vote when I call your name member Ali Abstain. Member Ali Saya. Abstain. Member Arnold.
Yes. Member Albin. Yes. Member? Um, member Casre Abstain. Member Dean Stag? Yes. Member Fair? Yes. Member Garcia. Absent. Member Giordano. Yes. Vice Chair Green? Yes. Member Hassan Abstain. Member Ho. Yes. Member Esto. Member? He's not. Yes. Oh, yes. Uh, member Owin? Yes. Member Ong. Yes.
Member Sap. Yes. Member Shepherd? No. Member? Yes. Member Vera? Yes. And Chair Faulkner? Yes. Member Arnold, you voted yes. Yes. I just wrote it. Funny. Thank you. Um, the motion passes, um, with a vote of 14 in favor. One No. And five abstention. Great. Um, and, and let's, where were your position was on this vote? This does not end the conversation. So I think that the DOE, the department has sent that message. No matter where you came down in this particular vote,
there were some great suggestions made. There were some concerns were raised. I think we should, um, commit to now reaching out and let's sit down and figure out what the next steps are. Um, and I think we're gonna, again, we're gonna find a, a great receptive partner in doing some of this kind of stuff. So, um, the next step is now how do we move forward and make this all work for the betterment of the children. Um, let's move on to the estimated budget for fiscal year 2026. Is there a, uh, oh, secretary, would you reduce the re the motion resolution? Yes.
The resolution of for approval is entitled Resolution regarding approval of the annual estimate of the total sum of money available to support N-Y-C-P-S operations. Okay. Is there a panel member who will make that motion? That was In stereo. In Stereo, yes. It was good. So, um, panel member Alban, and then, uh, panel member cast Ready seconds. Let's, uh, move to public comment. Yes. And the speakers on this matter are Rebecca Castio Chenko,
Stephanie Bonia, qua McClain, Sarah Kado, and Steve Light. Anybody? I don't think there's anybody. Is anybody ESP Espina? Say it again. Oh, okay. I didn't, okay. I am sorry. My name is Stephanie Bonia. We're gonna fix your form, don't worry. But I signed up for everything, so I'm waiting for public comment. Thank you. I wanted to be heard tonight, so I said yes to everything. Thank you.
And we hear you. And we're listening. Okay. Was that the only, That was, those were the only names that signed up for public comment. Okay. So we'll now move to panel member comments. Panel member Alban is the make of the motion. You get the right of first, uh, discussion. All Right, thank you. So, I wanna say off that the budget is not a reflection of New York City Public Schools, but actually it's a hindrance to the work that they can be. New York City public schools are doing excellent work. I I'm kind of prejudiced. I want our system to be phenomenal and exceptional, and not just the largest in the nation.
The budget's supposed to cover all the needs we need to bridge the gaps. And we have discussed this in bit the gaps in the inequities between the budget and the capital plan to ensure that all needs are funded, the tools, the resources, exceptional quality education, Korean civic readiness, essential essentials, fundamental and enriching services and programs, while creating a welcoming, inclusive environment and programs that addresses the social emotional fiscal wellbeing of our scholars. Again, we need those transparencies.
I know, ed, I don't wanna see, and this is what always happens every year. Education needs should not be used as a bargaining chip, just fund education. How much money is spent should be reflective and should be shown just like how, uh, how it aligns with our policy and goals. Just like we expect our comprehensive education plan, we should see how it aligns. How are we spending that money with our policies and goals for the system? I know the political climate has us having uncertainties of funding issues, but this is not something new.
Um, again, it should reflect what we need, um, in education. What else? I wanted to say, um, addressing the special education services early childhood, and we have to pay charter school rent, which we should get additional funding. It should not be coming from what is allocated to New York City public schools. Matter of fact, it should be a separate funding line if the state insists that we pay for charter school education, since we're the only district doing that. Let it be a separate funding line like we have for early childhood. You know, um, there's things the way we really need to service all our children.
And this budget, again, estimated and the youth politicals is unacceptable. And I will be voting no on this. Yeah. Yes. Well go ahead, member council and I'll come back to Thank You so much. Uh, so, uh, the fiscal year 2025 estimated budget, that was what we voted on last year was 39 billion. And what we're looking at now for fiscal year, uh, 2026, is an overall estimated budget of 41.2 billion. So there are incremental increases in each line item
and even a new line item for technology of almost 132 million. Um, so yes, we're seeing an increase over last year of 2 billion, but we also may be losing 2 billion in federal aid. The federal government currently owes New York City schools 363 million in reimbursements, and it is likely not ending there. We need Mayor Adams to prioritize the education of our children. This budget is too low. Um, city council Chair Joseph led a 12 hour budget hearing.
And so we learned about all of the areas that are being underfunded by this, by this budget. Um, I disagree with the distribution of funding and how it's being allocated. We should be seeing a decline in charter school funding, not a $200 million increase. Um, that additional funding should be put towards early education, which is showing only a small increase. Um, I really don't understand why we sit here year after year and condone the mayor playing budget games with our children. Why should seats for three year olds and arts, education,
and civics for all be sacrificed? Why aren't they in this budget from day one? Um, why are we being asked to vote on a budget that doesn't include these, these really important and critical programs? Um, additionally, per the New York State Education Law, 25 90 Q CECs are supposed to be sharing their own budget estimates. Um, and this is part of their responsibility under the law. Although we've seen estimates for the districts prepared in part by the DOE and superintendents, we don't actually have any written feedback
from CECs on this budget. Uh, DOE needs to improve the communication around this issue. There should be a clear written timeframe for the entire spring budget process and a form that CECs can fill out detailing which line items they feel need to be adjusted to reflect the needs of their communities. Um, so we need to do this in collaboration with our parent leaders. It really cannot be done without them. And, and I, and I think you highlighted an important point, that where there are items that are underfunded and the budget dance begins with the mayor and the city council.
The council has the ability to restore funds. So I think we should be really directing some of these focuses at the city council. And if we're not being funded at the proper level, the council gets a pot of money that they can then say, you are absolutely right. And we will restore those funds. You, me, you mentioned the chair of the education committee, we need to be reaching out and saying, restore those funds because we agree with you that there are areas where the department needs to be better funded, and the council has the ability to take out of their pot of money and restore that money, um, to the city of New York. So this is the normal budget process that happens
for the last 50 years, is the budget dances, the mayor, cuts in the council restores. And I think we ought to be focusing on getting the council to restore those funds. We say it publicly that we ask the council to make a restoration of funds that are necessary to properly manage some of the programs that you've outlined. Is there anyone else who wishes to comment? Panel Member Shepherd. Thank you. Chair Faulkner. So, um, I just wanna think about it this way, right? A little over $41 billion, right? And, you know, $10 billion of that is informed
by the Fair Student Funding Formula. And you know, I I remember on the briefing when it was said, and just, um, it's counter to anything that makes sense is voting on the Fair Student Funding Formula. After we vote on the budget, when the Fair Student Funding Formula informs $10 billion of this budget, to me, is kind of putting the, kind of like the, the the horse, the, the, the cart in front of the horse, right? And I say this every year that we need to vote on the fair Student funding formula first so
that we know how, um, the budget, the estimated budget that we vote on, how that is informed. Um, outside of that, I think the, the only, and it's, this is a rhetorical question, right? So we got 41, we are, we're voting on a $41 billion estimated budget, right? The USDA cut a billion dollars in, in school food programs, right? And at the same time, um, the DOE says that, you know, in elementary schools,
we gonna stop giving our kids fresh fruit. How much does fresh fruit cost? Does it cost $41 billion? I think not. I think for all the things we spend money on, that we can certainly invest a few million dollars in serving fresh fruit to our children. Right? Um, so, you know, at the end of the day, um, you know, I I I understand the budget dance, you know, but you know, when we talk about funding our schools and we talk about how we spend $41 billion, I don't feel like dancing. No. What I feel like doing is making sure
that our schools are equitably funded, that our students, um, uh, are funded. Like our schools are funded based on the students in the schools and the needs of those students in the schools and in, uh, many neighborhoods, uh, in the Bronx, uh, food is an issue, and fresh food is an issue. Mm-hmm. And Ms. Torres came to us earlier today and told us, and she does it every month and tells us how fresh food is an issue. And, um, I think we just need
to be deliberate about how we spend money. Um, I also feel that, um, you know, if we, if we are going to vote on, on $41 billion in money and, and how that money is supposed to be spent, um, that we include all of those things. Like we should not be coming in here saying, you know, budget going up every year, but, um, you know, three K pre-K funding is going down in some places. Um, we shouldn't be saying if the budget is going up, we can't give you kids fresh fruit.
Right. We like, it just defies logic to me. And until we get that part right, and until we have this conversation in a way that makes sense, uh, I will be voting no on this estimated budget. Thank you. And I yield back. Yeah. I don't think the, I don't think the department's trying to take away fresh fruit from children. I mean, I think that, you know, there's a budget process and we have to be respectful of that budget process. You know, I, my understanding of the fair student funding is we need to know how much the pot is of money in order to know how to divide it. So it would make sense to me that you would first know
the size of the budget, the size of the pie before you cut it up. And the fair student funding actually cuts up the pie, right? So we need to know, understand that. And I think we gotta be straightforward folks and tell 'em correctly, this is, you know, why we, why there's a process and why we do things in the way that we do. And say it with, you know, some, with, you know, being straightforward with the folks. And this is how the budget process works. It is confusing. It is the way the city budget process works. We're unfortunately a part of that and we have to learn to sort of accommodate and adjust to, to that. We haven't done that. And I'm suggesting
that moving forward, because we're gonna say the same thing every year. Mm-hmm. And if we, and if we don't rethink if we, if we're gonna get the same results, if we keep doing the same thing, if we don't rethink the way and reimagine the way that we're doing things, we'll be sitting here next year and we're having the same conversation about the fair student funding and what comes first. And we're taking this away. And, and it'll be the same thing. If we really want to change it, then we're gonna sit down and we're going to, um, you know, uh, figure out a way to really impact that process. Because right now we are not a factor in
that process as a a panel. And that, that I think would be the way that we should move forward. Um, yes. Provide call. Yes. Uh, deputy Chancellor, Thank you Chair. And, and, uh, just wanna to clarify a couple of things. 'cause one of, Excuse me, nothing. Chair, question Chair, did you want me? No. Yeah, please continue. Um, uh, just want to clarify a a couple of things. Uh, one, the 'cause we don't want, um, to cause any undo, uh, concern or worry, uh, there is certainly legitimate cause for concern about, uh, federal funding,
but we don't wanna cause undue, uh, concern. The, um, there was a grant federal grant program that, uh, was cut of about a billion dollars, uh, nationwide. We were benefiting from that here in New York City, uh, with a supplemental, uh, locally grown fruit program, which was terrific, and we wish we were able to continue that. But I just wanna be clear, our kids are absolutely still getting fresh fruit, uh, with, with their lunch and with, with, with their breakfast. That has not gone away, will not go away.
We have not received a cut to our core USDA, uh, school food and Nutrition program. Uh, so just wanna be clear on that. Obviously, we watch, uh, all the developments in Washington very carefully to see how it might affect us. Uh, that is one that, that has affected a pilot program. But just wanna reassure folks that, uh, uh, food is not being taken away from, from student lunches. I never thought so. So, uh, let, let's, um, Marielle, If she, I, um, I can't see from that. Sorry. Is that Mari? Go ahead. Marielle. Mr. Chair.
Um, thank you. Chair Faulkner. Um, so I am the product of the New York City Public Schools. My parents are the product of New York City public schools, and then went on to serve the system as teachers for over 30 years, right here in the Bronx. Actually different parts of the Bronx. My children are New York City Public School students. Uh, and so when I look at the, you know, preliminary budget, um, there are some questions, and I kind of go back to that point that I mentioned earlier. Our budget reflects our priorities, right?
If we say we care about something, let the budget reflect it, right? I have a soon to be 3-year-old. Will she get a seat? I don't know. I have two children with IEPs. Will they continue to get the services they need? I don't know. And that's the question that I'm sure thousands of parents have right now. And just because, you know, we talked about the budget dance, the budget process, I get it. But just because that's part of the process, it doesn't mean that parents and communities need to be at the whim
of these budget negotiations. It is not fair. These are our children. Your children. The other thing that kind of, a couple of, um, panel members have also talked about this evening are the cuts and the potential cuts from the federal government. And I just wanna kind of wanna put it on the record. It is not enough to say that we're talking to city and state officials. We need assurances. We need assurances. We need assurances. And if the federal government pulls its 2.1 million that it gives us, what will we do?
Is there a plan in place? What things, you know, will our budget have to be cut further because of these cuts? And so I think that's important as well for, for members to consider. So yes, let's certainly talk to city Hall. Let's talk to city council. Let's talk to OMB. Let's work in partnership. But right now, this budget does not reflect the priorities that we say we have. So for that reason, I'll be abstaining. Thank you. Yep. Ano. So, um, I'm pretty sure Chancellor, deputy Chancellor didn't turn back that money.
They didn't, they don't want, it's not that they don't want that extra $450 million, right? My first job outta school, when I graduated Brooklyn College was in a city hall, what was it? A city hall lobbying shop. And we representing mostly labor unions. Every person who's fighting for every nickel in the budget thinks that their thing is the most important thing. And it's a battle. So I, I definitely uplift what the, uh, what the chair is saying in terms of us working together as a whole, as a whole pep and going to council together and, and, uh, and lobbying the council together. I do wanna, uh, point out something that really irked me. I think that's something we could all get on.
I was watching the Big East Tournament a couple, uh, a couple weeks ago. And, uh, you know, I had to get the Peacock Network to watch the Big East Games. Mm-hmm. And I watched six hours of games and there were 11 commercials for charter schools, for our student money, for our student enrollment. So we're paying the rent and they're buying the commercials to take away the enrollment and, and, and that, those, those student numbers, that student funding for each of those schools. So there's something wrong there. And I just wrong heard that commercial 11 times during two games. And, uh, it's just, it's just, there's gotta be equity here.
Well said. Okay? Uh, yes, panel member. Thank you, chair, uh, Adriana, she her, again, queen CECs. Um, I want to echo all of the comments shared by my fellow panel members. And I would like to highlight Panel member Giordano's, uh, comment just now, in particular, my professional background is in advertising, um, particularly in advertising compliance. So I review ads to make sure that they're truthful. Um, but I also in that know that the trafficking of ads or the, um, order that they're placed on air,
they're ordered in something called pods. All of this is very technical. It doesn't matter. The pods are a range in price. The closer that they are to the ending or the starting of the game coming back on, the more expensive they are. We see this a lot with super goal, et cetera. I just wanna echo just how expensive if, if think about that and then you see 11 of them over the course of two games. Okay. I'll get back to my actual comments now. Um, I wanna thank a few of the folks from Central for so graciously getting into the minutia of this with us in answering pretty much, um, a hundred
of the same questions more than a couple of times. Specifically, I would like to thank Ms. Sarita, Scott, our CFO. Thank you for the time and thank you for the energy. I really, really appreciate it. Um, I also appreciate the unflinching honesty. Um, with respect to the funding streams and question that we, uh, the influencing honesty and the conversation that we had, um, what I look forward to the most, I I, we've had a lot of, not Debbie Downers 'cause this is very serious, but we've had a lot of serious parts of this conversation. So I'd like to highlight what I am looking forward to, and I hope that the rest of the panel can look forward
to also is an increase in the collaborative advocacy between DOE Central leadership and the panel. Um, I look forward to opportunities for DOE Central staff and leadership to travel with the panel to al to Albany to advocate in person for the changes that we demand. Uh, budgets are moral documents, so we have to treat them as such. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for those comments. Are there any other panel member comments looking around? No. So let's proceed to a vote on the, uh, resolution. Secretary, please call the roll. Um, member Ali Abstain.
Member Ali, say abstain. Member Arnold. Sorry. Member bin? No. Member Retti abstain. Member Dean Stag? Yes. Member Fair? Yes. Member Garcia Epson. Uh, member Ano? Yes. Vice Chair Green? Yes. Member Hassan Epson. Member Ho. Yes. Member iso. We are not funding the Bronx. No. Good hearing. We're not funding the Bronx. No. Okay.
Member Mira? Yes. Member Owin. Yes. Member Ong. Yes. Member Sap. Yes. Uh, member Shepherd? No. Member Ang. Yes. Member Veris. Yes. And Chair Faulkner? Yes. The resolution passes by a vote of 13 in favor. Three nos and four Abstentions. Thank you. Um, we're about to move into, uh, the next section, which is the open public comment section. Um, uh, do we have any signups for open public comment? Yes.
Um, Rebecca Chenko. Amanda, Amanda Vendor, Stephanie Bonia, Sean Blake and Doral Basian. We have to fix the sign off sheet. I will continue to call names. Okay. Um, Rachel Wang, Amy S Destiny, Ali, Roman, Quan McClain, Steve Light and Leticia Thompson. You can start speaking. Just introduce yourself please. Um, again, my name is Amy Sy. I am a community education council, 10 district, um,
district 10 Borough Appointee. Um, I wanted to really express on behalf of my parent community and District 10. We have been asking for afterschool programs and, uh, some of our CBOs are there in our beacon programs in our buildings, but we are the largest district in the Bronx that still has, um, you know, quite amount of schools that don't have fully funded afterschool programs that are free to the students. And, uh, they don't include enrichment. Um, but these three hours that are offered
by community board, community board organizations offer af are offered afterschool snacks, but afterschool programs are given by the school principal and staff there, which offer like one hour, one hour and a half. Um, like my school at, uh, PSMs two 80, the kids don't get snacks. They're not qualified for the afterschool snacks. And it's unfortunate that, and it's shameful that we allow our kids to go home hungry. And my kids come home hungry, they complain about it and they're like, we can't get snacks unless the staff actually just go to the cafeteria
and grab snacks. And if they bring it to the classroom, some of the teachers don't want the food in the classroom and have a mess. And so we need to really ensure, as we talked about tonight about food for our kids, we need to make sure that afterschool snacks is really for all the kids who are enrolled in afterschool programs and they're fully funded so that we don't have food hardship for our students and our families since we are in, in the current state of hardships. So I just wanna share that. Um, and I just wanna shout out Healing centered Schools because they're doing great work here in the Bronx. And, uh, make sure our kids are fed and housed
and educated. Thank you. Let, Could, could I also ask, so let's make sure we follow up on that, um, you know, with, uh, is it doe or someone that could take that information and make sure that we're following up? Yeah, we're actually. Okay. So Thank you. We Actually Take notes in real time to follow up on these, so thanks. Okay. Yeah. I wanted to see you, Amy. Thank You. Thank you. Um, any others? Yes, I'm going now. The speaker could again Miss start speaking. The timer didn't start. Oh, It's okay. Take the time.
Go. Okay. Go. My name is Stephanie Bonia. I'm glad it says zero nine. Don't take my minutes away. I'm glad that we're in the Bronx today. I'm more glad we're here in this space and you'll see why. Thank you for making our online form, which we'll work on together. No worries, my friend. But I thank you all because this time last year we couldn't speak in the Bronx for public comment. Remember Mr. Chair Faulkner? But again, you had to, you had to, uh, you got a good memory. Yes. I'll say that. You know, yes. Okay. Yeah. Help me out.
That's okay. Hey, but That was able to change. Thank You. Hey, has this been an improvement? Yes. Thank you. Yes. That's what I'm saying. Thank you. Listen, don't say you're not heard Today. I'm here on another matter. As DOE also authorizes charter schools, there needs to be more of a procedure on holding charters accountable. Our borough safety director gets a hard time in au in authority to assist in certain matters and our own DOE building and charters keep getting away with issues that are not being resolved, also leading them
to wanting their own buildings. And if that happens, DOE has less power to supervise them and hold them accountable. Limited access was used against me to keep me and others of this particular out of this particular building from advocating for my child, but not today. As this was a public forum, I was able to walk through those doors. I'm requesting the thorough, um, um, I'm requesting from PEP members and Chancellor, Ms. Aviles Ramos investigation on data IEPs.
Show staff at Dr. Richardo is not in compliance in many areas. I have recordings, pictures, evidence, and of many things happening here. Everyone has been involved from CSC two directors to the state, et cetera. I am very proud of my daughter Destiny for speaking and advocating for herself here tonight. Please Help my daughter be able to get the things she's missing for her transfer to move on and be able to achieve her successful academics.
Let's not let Dr. Erdos legacy come to an end as he gave a lot to his community for our families, the true advocate of this school. Thank you. Thank You. Are there any additional speakers? I don't see any. Are there any others? Uh, I called all the names. I'll just, since there were so many, let me just double check, make sure Yeah. Um, someone's coming. Not trying to drag it. Okay. Hello. Good evening everyone. One last time.
Leticia Thompson. Uh, district eight. I wanted to propose before the entire panel for educational policy and our chancellor, who is a District eight parent, just wanna say, um, that we need to come together to address how we are going to, um, improve the enforcement of our chancellor's regulations, um, with equity. Um, one of the things that we are finding as parent leaders is that the regulations are often used to hinder
or to obstruct parent progress in our advocacy as opposed to being used to under un undergird us Right. And show us the pathway. Like they're the guardrails, but, um, they're not to be used, uh, weaponized against parents who are trying to do things within the construct. Right? And so, um, I just wanna put that before the panel as well as our, uh, new chancellor as your name's on it, right? So, um, if we can just work together on how to, um, to prevent the weaponization of the regs
and to use them as I know they were intended initially. And I also wanna yes, thank you and acknowledge that this was, uh, definitely the type of, uh, policy, uh, discussion that we need to have in the Bronx because we house the poorest congressional and senatorial districts in the country. And so it is important that our children, um, and our family voices are absolutely heard, um, and respected, um, since we are the ones that really need those supports. So thank you so much everyone, and have a good night. Okay.
Thank you for your comments. Um, I wanted to, uh, panel Shepherd. Are you moving to I'll show you. Grab the mic. Yes. Mm-hmm. That means, um, you're recognized. Thank you. And I guess there are a few other panel members also. So go ahead. Thank you Chair Faulk. I'll make this quick. Um, again, I just wanna say thank you to the community. Um, you know, I know the, the struggle, right? It's like, you know, we, we struggle to, uh, get our kids to and from school. We struggle to, um, make sure that they are safe and that they are, um, you know, clothed and housed
and, um, that their needs are met, that they get a decent education and parents showed up tonight like they do every month. And I just wanted to say how profoundly grateful I am, uh, to be a part of this Bronx community. Um, I do want to just, uh, add one quick thing and, uh, I wanted to say that the, uh, end of the discussion about the changes in school U utilization, like nobody said, the regulation out loud and the regulation is a one 90. The A one 90 regulation is the chancellor's regulation
that defines what the process, uh, for considering changes in school utilization looks like. And I have been advocating from this space for five years almost, that we need to take a really hard look at that regulation. And we have to make sure that that regulation respects parents, it respects students, it respects school communities. And it's done in a way where people feel like they are connected to it. They are a part of it and empowered by it. Um, so I do appreciate what Ms. Thompson just said about weaponizing, uh,
the chancellor's regulations. And when we look at these changes in utilization, that's how many parents walk away feeling. And I just want us to really, um, examine those regulations, uh, that particular regulation and, uh, perhaps we can make changes to it. Um, you know, chancellor's regulations are probably the closest thing we got to etching something in stone. So if we like look at that and say, we are going to pull out a new tablet and we're going to etch a new, like, etch it in stone again,
then I think it needs to, um, define what our values are in terms of equity and what that looks like for our students and communities. Thank you Chair Folkman. And, and thank you for those comments. 'cause after five years, we've appointed a committee, Adriana Luciana, who shares the Utilization Committee. That's one of the things that she's gonna be looking at. I wish she was here because I wanted to thank her because we had, um, a couple of meetings, um, um, recently. And, uh, we're moving in that direction. And in, in line of also talking about, um, appointments and panel member reo, you were supposed to remind me
of something I was going with my friend. Okay. Um, a couple of months ago you brought up the safety committee and, uh, and, uh, actually brought it up. And I was a little surprised. I guess I was supposed to be on it, but I didn't. The, the Citywide the Citywide Committee. So, so I wanna thank you for agreeing to serve and represent me on that committee. I'm gonna ask you to bring back information, uh, uh, to us on that, uh, committee and as they work and move forward. So I just wanted to publicly thank you for agreeing to take on that responsibility and, and look forward to our next meeting when you'll come and maybe give us some feedback in terms of
where they're at and what they're doing. Um, is any other panel members, your parent member? Well, it's your birthday, so I'm gonna let you see panel member Gia Down's birthday panel members Last Wednesday, but I take, I take birthday, birthday gifts all year Long. Okay. Don't, don't get crazy. Just, just Go. So, uh, this came for full circle for me. This, uh, this week. I, uh, and I'll, I'll talk about this another time, but I visited PS one, uh, 5 1 6 in, uh, Brooklyn, uh, which was a school in my old neighborhood, which, uh, the School Construction Authority did a fantastic job preserving the exterior
of this historic landmark building and building a just a beautiful school led by two, uh, a young principal, principal Knutson and, uh, and a young ap uh, uh, Francisco, who, uh, were fantastic. But what I, the part that I wanna bring this about around to is budget. And, uh, when I, when I, when I was a lobbyist back in, when I graduated local 2 37 school safety officers was a client of ours. And here we come full circle. I speak to every 2 37 member when I visit schools. And, um, we currently have a sis situation where,
when our school safety officers go on break at these two schools I visited, there's no other social school school safety officer there. It's replaced the, the, the, uh, the, the, the building is tended by a, um, by either a school aid or a cafeteria worker. And great people, great workers, great union, but this is not their job. Okay. And what is the liability to us if something happens while someone who's not properly trained is at, is manning those seats? So the bottom line is, uh, you know, it seems like it's a,
it's a citywide problem. We need more, uh, school safety officers, period. And, uh, it's on budget, it's on safety. Um, so I'm happy to be your alternate on the safety committee if need be. Um, but, uh, it's something that I'd wanna lift up. And it was something that was very, uh, co that it was very, uh, in my face this week when I was visiting Schools. Right. And Pam, Alicia, as you return, I wanted to know that I thanked you for your work on the committee and we gave you some more work while you weren't here. I Okay. My al Yeah. Yeah. In light of, um, um, there's some, um, public speakers
that were called that weren't called, you know, why they weren't here? 'cause they went to advocate on our behalf in Albany. Uh, and, and regarding budget, uh, childcare, all the programs that it affects our educational system. And one of those persons were, um, qua McLean. Mm-hmm. Um, that's his name was kept calling repeatedly. And that's what he's doing. And I would like, we already have touched it over, over a couple of months, can, can we do a trip to Albany and include not just us, but our community members as well, other stakeholders,
our students to be a real stronghold, both at Albany and at the city council, um, to have that really strong impact and things. And I know, yeah. There is a shortage. There's a shortage of everything in the city. Mm-hmm. And a lot of those shortages, like school crossing guards, school safety, they're not showing the money. Right. We need to show them money for education and we need to, we need to show the money for those services. Yeah. Thank you. You're right. And, and by the way, they could still provide written testimony, so, you know, the, the voice still would be heard. So I wouldn, you know, maybe pass that on to them.
Um, I thought you were asking to be recognized. Uh, no. I, I, whoever. Okay. Alright, cast, Thank you so much. Uh, Camille Kareti, Brooklyn Borough President Appointee. I have very exciting news, um, hot off the press from Quala. Thank you so much for being in Albany and learning about, um, the governor's budget proposal is now including transition aid. Um, so because of this modification, New York City would hypothetically, um, receive $85 million in extra aid, um,
which is going to be prioritizing districts with a high charter saturation. So that would be the Bronx. Um, please call your state senators and assembly people ASAP to advocate for this remaining in the budget so that New York City schools can get what should have been rightfully theirs in the initial charter law. Um, okay. So, uh, just a few things just to follow up on. I'm working with CEC 15 to set up a walkthrough at the Borum Hill School
for International Studies regarding their request for more space. As you know, they've come here over and over again. Um, if anyone would like to join, I know, um, Anita had said she wanted to, so anybody else, just please let me know. Um, and I also wanted to report that although District 23 is doing fine with their class size mandates, they're, they're one of, I think, four districts who are under control there. They are in need of ELL and ICT teachers. And we really need to create pathways for these positions,
especially in high need areas. So how do we get more educators? Um, one thought that I had was working with City Council to create housing stipends as a signing bonus for new teachers that have certifications in either one of these areas. Um, health and Hospitals opened 16 new mental health sites in nine of which are in Brooklyn to tackle the youth mental health crisis. I won't go into the details of that, but just something that people should know and continue sending feedback through our online written public comment form.
Um, which is on the PEP website. We heard again this evening that people are thinking that they're allowed to give public comment hybrid, they should be allowed to. We really need to talk about that as a panel. Um, but, you know, send your comments anytime of the day or night, anytime of the month. You don't have to wait for the PEP meeting. Um, and we all have access to that information. So, um, and then of course, you can always email us as well, but thank you so much. Okay. Um, I'm looking around. Yeah. Panel member, uh,
Hassan. Thanks, Jeff Ulner. Thank you everyone. Uh, especially to the students and parents who came out and, uh, uh, expressed, uh, all of their, uh, gave us all of their input in, in, in the various public comments. Uh, I wanted to follow up on a couple of things that my fellow panel panel members said, especially around the work that's happening, helping our newly arrived students, uh, in, in the city. Uh, that school safety issue is actually a very critical issue to make sure that we have trained staff at, uh, at school at all times, uh, and, and not have tier workers or school aides who may not be able to, uh, to follow
through with, with the responsibilities that we're putting on our NYPD colleagues. Um, so that's something that we should definitely follow up on. And for everyone who is interested in the, uh, legislative and government affairs work, I apologize, but we really will be scheduling something before the next pep meeting. In terms of a committee meeting, uh, we'll send out a calendar scheduling question to see when we can do it. Most likely right after Passover, um, in the spring break, um, there's, uh, a whole lot of things that are essentially happening on almost an hourly basis, but definitely a daily basis around immigration
that really still creates a climate of intense fear for the families that are, uh, that are living in shelters, being moved around, shelters are closing. And, uh, we could use anyone's support who, who's willing to work with us on that to, to advocate for stability for them and stability for the schools that they attend. Finally, it's the end of Ramadan, I think, on Saturday, depending on the lunar, uh, the, the moon sighting. But it'll be on Sunday. So even embark to anyone who, uh, observes and celebrates. And, uh, looking forward to seeing everyone at the next, next be meeting. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else? Yep. Panel moai.
Uh, thank you Chair. Um, I wanna pick up on a little bit of what, um, panel member Casa Reddi mentioned about what's going on at the state. Um, and shout out all of those parents and advocates who are there. Um, working on behalf of New York City public schools on behalf of the comptroller. And as those state budget negotiations approach and end, um, I'd like to highlight first of all, all the wonderful things we as a city provide to our children. In part because of state support, um,
free early childhood education for four year olds, uh, services for children with disabilities, social workers to help address children's social emotional needs and tens of thousands of vouchers so that low income children can receive, um, c childcare and early childhood education. But so much of the fate of these programs requires care and focus, and they require that funding commitment. And for all the programs I just mentioned, the city depends on us receiving our fair share
of state funding to support them. Right now, New York City is missing $350 million in foundation aid from the state. And something that may not be, um, directly related to a lot of the discussions we have here with regard to DOE, um, a CS is estimating they are missing a billion dollars in funding for, um, the childcare block grant that supports those childcare subsidies and also provides DOE with $125 million in funding for extended day,
extended year three K and pre-K seats. And that is all at risk right now. Um, the news on transition aid is amazing. It's something that has been long advocated for, uh, DOE has lost out on nearly $3 billion in transition aid that we should have received and never did. So it's good to know we're getting that. No, It's not done. It's not Jose hold it That we could be getting that, um, that is even being talked about this year is something to celebrate.
Um, but when our schools are facing the impacts, the potential impacts from the Trump administration, the dismantling of the Federal Department of Education, um, funding for childhood vaccine programs today announced that funding is disappearing. Um, threats to Medicaid funding. Um, we as a city, we as a state have to take care of our children care in New York and make sure that we are getting all the funding that we are entitled to, to support all of those programs.
And it's time to let our state legislators and the governors know that. Thank you. Great. Council member sap. Um, I guess I wanted to just mention something that, that it has been on my heart as a parent. Um, if you don't mind, I would like to take a moment of silence, um, for Cordera and, and Nazar Lewis, who were murdered in the Georgia Mountains, um, educated boys. But it's this thing with this pervasive hatred
that lingers and is the, in the undertone of every black parent. So it has not been resolved. And when we look at, um, these black boys and the social norms that allow this to perpetuate, I don't care what state I am in, where I live across the country, it hits home. So can we just take a moment of silence for them and their family and, um, you know, we have
to do better in policy to make sure that every single time somebody considers taking somebody else's child out, it hits home, it hits their home, and it's like pie and pepper in their mouth. It needs to resonate deeply that there is zero tolerance with taking other people's children out just because you feel like it. And with this pervasive issue, it resonates very deep. So deep. A moment of silence, please. Thank you. And, and let's also pray that the, we don't have
to keep repeating these moments of silence under those conditions. So having said that, if there's no other comments from members of Thank you. So wanted to bring to everybody's attention, um, that we are quickly approaching June and then July and, um, busing, right? Because I, I always love to talk about busing and I haven't done that in a while. Um, 'cause I have a fill in now I have a sub. Um, so I, I wanted to let the panel know that, um, it is March 26th, um, by our own timeline, we require 30 days about to prepare a contract
to then a 30 day registration with the comptroller's office, plus a 45 day public notice for our contracts, which means that that is past June 30th. Our last meeting is June 26th, which means that we have no busing for summer right now. We have no bus contracts after June 30th. We have no chapter 6 83 busing for D 75 students or any students that have extended school year right now. They're not on any of our agendas yet for the next few meetings, which means they're still being negotiated. So I wanna say before we get to that point, um, one thing
that that is also affecting these, these bus contracts that is like not directly with students is the employee protection provisions that were removed. Um, and so we have these two sets of contracts, legacy and non-legacy that are either really low with non-union companies or really great because they're 45 years old for the companies. Because I don't think any parent or student here is gonna say that they love busing. I don't think we've ever heard that here.
I've been in this space for over 10 years. I just wanna say I've never heard that. And so with these emergency contracts, that means that they're gonna be extensions or they're going to have things that, that are outside of the normal process that allow us to really advocate for benefits to the students, benefits to the workers. Um, right now it's, it's, it's lopsided where the companies kind of have all of the cards because we need busing, right? We're federally mandated to provide busing to all of those students. Um, so a, I'd like to put on your radar
that there is a Senate bill out 10 18, um, that is sponsored by Robert Jackson to add EPP to two cities with a million or more inhabitants. It is very specific to very large cities that have this very large transportation system that's not working in any city, by the way, because of all the shortages. Um, number two, I would like to request a, a briefing, um, with the people that we had to, um, so we have a coalition, um, oh my gosh, road to better busing.
And we would, I would like to request that that group provide the panel a briefing because these are very nuanced issues that many people here are not familiar with because they, they don't, you don't live those issues every day. They don't affect you. And even someone that, what that lives it that has been living it for the last 16, 17 years. 17 years, busing has sucked for me 17 years. I'm asking to please allow us to educate everyone here so that we know how to advocate
and move in our own lanes where we then come back together here in support of all the students. This affects gen ed busing as well because they're gonna focus on what they're mandated to do. We eventually probably won't have gen ed busing because we won't be able to meet the mandate for everyone that we're required to by law. That's not fair. That then puts us back in a situation where we have certain zip codes that don't have access to other places that offer different programs that have more robust programming because of where they are
and what they're able to offer. So before we end up in that place, I'd love for us to get a briefing from the coalition. They're very well spoken. There are lawyers. OPT is part of it, which is we did a Tahoe with OPT on Monday. That is the first time ever. I don't think OPT has ever done anything with parents in that way. So I wanna thank New York City Public Schools. We're, we're starting, but we need to move faster because these contracts are coming up and the companies have all this leverage and we have all the kids. Mm-hmm. So I, I ask that a, we can do, like you guys know,
so you can go talk in your own lanes. I have, I have a document for you if you want it. And b um, if, if we could please, um, have that briefing. And three, I have a question. Why are we called the panel for educational policy? You're asking me or you're asking? I'm I'm asking anyone that had the answer. Well, because the c the mayor at the time, mayor Bloomberg, um, about, they abolished the Board of Education and they read, there was a city charter changed and they changed the old board of education to the panel for education policy. But I think I know where you're going. So I would like then that if we could do the, the, the,
the homework to figure out if that was legal because in see, 'cause then we were talking about 25 90. So then I was looking up our budgetary fiduciary responsibility and in there we keep saying the city board of New York. And then when we did our swearing in, it's like the board of the City of New York, district of New York, city of New York. You gotta say New York twice. I remember that. But that's what we are. So if I was sworn to do that and the law says that, and when we get sued it says board of education, then I'd like to motion to change our name back because panel for educational policy feels like it, it,
it takes away the power that the law clearly gives us. And I would like us to go back to school board. Okay, I'm second. So point of point of order motion's out of order because we have to notify the public. We can't just do a motion like that without first notifying the public, which we discussed. So you have written, there is an amendment to the bylaws. Actually we need to amend our bylaws. Um, so that, and that would have to have the appropriate notification and timing in order to do that. So we can't do it. So I do Have a question though. We can do finish my statement. If it wasn't, Let just mention one.
Just lemme just lemme just finish. We, so we can't do that today. I think there is a lot of sympathy, um, uh, uh, towards your point of view, but we need to do it properly. If we're gonna do it at all, we'll Get it done. I I, my question is, was it legal to change the name? Because defense law states Bloomberg Administration. It's a reference of how, how it was being referred to. I know when I do the swearing in, it's got, I do the official name and also known as Yeah, because yeah, so it's a, in some ways a DBA doing business as, can I just stop? I don't think we should have that briefing now, right?
Yeah, we, we are gonna have a briefing. You, I think you've made a valid point. The point was that if it's not legal, then we have the right to change it. I think you made point that we need to dig into this a little bit further, but I don't think this is the appropriate time to do it. I appreciate that. Thank You. Okay. Um, is there any other conversation or discussion? Um, let me just announce that our next meeting will be held on April 23rd, 2025 at Long Island City High School in the Borough of Queens. You welcome. Um, and, uh, we look forward to, um, uh, vigorous engagement as we've had tonight.
I think it was a good meeting. I wanna thank all, I think I'd be remiss if I didn't thank all the panel members. I was reviewing some of the engagement that we've done over the past month and I think you would all be surprised with the number of meetings and phone calls and briefings and things that have taken place. And so I think that, um, I want to recognize you for all of that. And if there's no further business, this meeting is adjourned.